Switching
by Emerald Tide
Summary: Ikuto Tsukiyomi and Nagihiko Fujisaki have switched bodies, and neither knows why. As they delve deeper into the mystery with the help of a nerd, a former robotics teacher, a pop star, a jock, the jock's cousin, and their respective best friends, they find themselves doing perhaps the strangest thing possible: falling in love. With each other's best friends. Rimahiko and Amuto.
1. Prologue

It was a normal day for Ikuto Tsukiyomi. He was lying against his locker in the hallway with his eyes shut, daydreaming. Students' eyes flickered over to him with looks of disgust, but he didn't mind; it was much better than the first couple of days. After all, he hated noise, and that was certainly what they'd made as they'd pointed down at him and hissed, "What is he _doing_?" They were used to it now, and he was happy.

"Ikuto."

He glanced up. Staring vacantly into her eyes, as if waking up from a deep sleep, he murmured, "Rima."

People looked at her, too, but those looks were ones of pity, not disgust. When they first saw her with him, they had thought, she must be desperate for friends to hang out with him. They thought, she must think she's not worthy of anyone better. And then they'd wondered why, because it was a fact: Rima Mashiro was beautiful, with large amber eyes, a small rosebud mouth, and long golden curls. So they'd gone over to her, and told her that. They told her she was beautiful, that she could easily become the most popular girl in school if she stopped hanging out with him. They were being _helpful_.

And she'd snapped at them. She'd told them to get lost, that she didn't need popularity, that they were idiots. Like they were doing something _wrong_, when they obviously were helping her. So they'd concluded that she must be stupid. Retarded, because she didn't know how high she could rise in the social food chain. What a waste of beauty.

They were the stupid ones, Rima always thought. Never seeing the inside. She'd told this to Ikuto multiple times: People are stupid, so stupid. I feel like you and I are the only smart ones. And he'd said: Well, then, we don't have to deal with them. They leave us alone; isn't that enough?

And she'd agreed. And they'd become true friends, not just acquaintances that were slightly curious about the other. They'd become true friends, not just other classmates' backstabbing, competitive version of "friends."

That was Ikuto's life. It was about to change.

* * *

It was a normal day for Nagihiko Fujisaki. He was surrounded by girls – not at a close distance, of course. They weren't _that _stupid. But they were hiding – behind lockers and bathroom doors, just close enough to bask in … what? Energy waves radiating off his back?

"Nagi, what are you daydreaming about?" Amber eyes stared into his curiously.

He smiled. "Energy waves radiating off my back."

"Huh?"

"Nothing, Amu. Did you do the history homework?"

She was about to reply when a boy came over. "Hinamori-senpai!"

Something in Amu's eyes changed; to Nagihiko, the very air seemed to almost become colder. "Yes?" she said coolly.

He held out a bright pink envelope. "I-I want to give you –"

"No, thanks. I don't want to date a squirt like you. And if it's not you, I don't want to date one of your squirt friends." She snatched the envelope from him and tore it into pieces. He ran immediately, and the air became warmer – almost like magic.

"Amu…" Nagihiko sighed.

"I know, I know," she moaned. "I can't help it. Whenever someone besides you comes… bam, outer character. Even with my parents."

Nagihiko had been Amu's first friend – they had made friends in the stage of life where kids thought the other gender had cooties, so it had been hard. But somehow – Nagihiko still couldn't figure out how – he had removed Amu's outer character. Sort of. She still acted cold with others, but she could show a side of herself to Nagihiko that she hadn't been able to show anyone else, not even her family. And Amu would be forever grateful to him for that. They weren't in love or anything, but they were true friends, not just acquaintances that were slightly curious about the other, or other classmates' backstabbing, competitive version of "friends."

Nagihiko had thought before that it was because he hung out with Amu so much that he was popular, but that was wrong. He was more popular than Amu now, even without an outer character. He was still trying to find out why; he couldn't understand what made him so appealing.

That was Nagihiko's life. It was about to change.

* * *

**I can't believe it. It's another story, one that I probably won't finish. -_- Oh, and I haven't planned it out _at all_ (and that means "I have _no idea _what's going to happen in the story besides that Ikuto and Nagihiko will switch bodies"), so it could easily become an Ikuma/Amuhiko story. Hope that doesn't immediately chase you away. **

**I also had some problems deciding which characters to put for Character A and Character B (Amu H. & Ikuto T. or Rima M. & Nadeshiko/Nagihiko F.), since I'm going to cover both pairings equally (unless it changes to Ikuma and Amuhiko, in which case I'll cover both _those_ pairings equally). I finally settled on Rima and Nagihiko, because truthfully, I don't even like Amuto anymore. The only reason I didn't make it Tadamu or Kukamu or something is because for both Tadase and Kukai, I feel like they would be the popular kid over Nagihiko, and I really needed Nagihiko to be the popular one (for reasons you'll find out later). So, Amuto it was.**

**And don't tell me that Ikuto would be popular over Nagihiko – I actually think he would kind of be a loner in real life (no offense to Ikuto fans), mainly because he's sort of weird. If you want to disagree with me, do so nicely in a PM, and actually give me a legitimate reason. A legitimate reason is _not_ "Ikuto's hot and most people like him."**

**Anyway, that's all. I'm going to include a preview for each chapter, even though I usually end up changing the chapter to match the preview, instead of the opposite. Oh, well. I sort of like doing that.**

**Bye! (For now.)**

* * *

_Preview:_

_Nagihiko thought he was dreaming, but he'd never had a dream as vivid as this. He was staring at himself, in the same position he'd been in. And he was in the same position Ikuto had been in… No. It wasn't possible._

_Slowly, he stood up and ran a hand through his now-short hair, his brain racing. Finally, he spoke to the person in front of him – the one that looked exactly like himself – and it was in Ikuto's voice._

_"Are you Ikuto?"_


	2. Switching

As Nagihiko talked cautiously to a fangirl, trying to get her away, Rima stared at them in disgust. "Honestly, what's so great about the popular kids? They're completely normal. Yet somehow they pass off as 'cool'. They're just as pathetic as anyone else."

Ikuto raised an eyebrow. "Why do you hate Fujisaki so much?"

Rima whirled around to face him. "Excuse me?"

Ikuto shrugged. "It's just that whenever you complain about the popular kids, it's always directed towards him. That's just a little curious, don't you think?"

Rima's eyebrows slanted down. She didn't reply.

"Fine, I'll stop asking," Ikuto said, his tone of voice indicating that he would _not_ stop asking. "But I'm just saying, wouldn't you complain more about Amu Hinamori? She's the one who rejects guys on a daily basis, though it's completely obvious 'Cool and Spicy' is fake."

"Okay, fine," Rima snapped irritably. "But don't you dare laugh."

"I won't."

"You better not," she muttered.

"Go on."

She took a deep breath. "I'm not bragging or anything, but have you noticed how I can have a short conversation with a person, and determine what their real personality is like? Even if they have a façade?"

"I've noticed."

"Like Amu Hinamori. She might annoy me once in a while, but it's mostly the other kids around her that make me irritated. Everything about her is a lie, and everything's right in front of your face, yet nobody can see it. I have a façade too, you know that, right? But I can hide it much better than she can." Ikuto nodded, and Rima went on. "And you, too. You're definitely not as obvious, but I can see it." A smile appeared on her face. "That might actually be why I approached you. Normally unpopular kids don't have an outer character."

"But Fujisaki… he's different. I've been watching him for a long time, but I can't tell if that smiley personality of his is real or not. I.. I can't see _anything_. I mean, nobody can be that good-natured all the time, right? Especially with those annoying fans. So I got curious, but no matter how much I try, I can't read him. And normally I can see with everyone." She had to force herself to say the next sentence. "It makes me uneasy."

Ikuto watched, an unreadable expression on his face. "You're scared of him."

Her jaw dropped open in a rare expression of shock. "I am not!"

One side of Ikuto's mouth quirked up in something resembling a smile. "Face it, Rima."

"I don't have to _face _anything." She turned away. "It's time for class." Quickly, Rima walked past him in the direction of her locker, leaving him staring.

* * *

Nagihiko had finally shaken off that persistent fan with the classic excuse: It's time for class. Now, he was removing his books from his locker hurriedly; he had no intention of being late. Walking to class, he bumped into someone, knocking him to the ground.

It was Ikuto Tsukiyomi.

Eyes widening in surprise and slight nervousness, Nagihiko held out a hand. "I'm sorry. Are you okay?" Ikuto hesitated for a second, then silently took the hand.

The world spun.

Everything changed perspective.

The spinning stopped.

Nagihiko thought he was dreaming, but he'd never had a dream as vivid as this. He was staring at himself, in the same position he'd been in. And he was in the same position Ikuto had been in… No. It wasn't possible.

Slowly, he stood up and ran a hand through his now-short hair, his brain racing. Finally, he spoke to the person in front of him – the one that looked exactly like himself – and to his shock, it was in Ikuto's voice.

"Are you Ikuto?"

His other self took a deep breath, eyes slightly wide. "That depends. Are you Nagihiko Fujisaki?"

"I… I… I think so."

There was an uncomfortable silence, lasting about forty seconds. Ikuto was the one who spoke first. "We switched bodies." His tone was calm. Too calm.

Nagihiko, however, was nearly hyperventilating. "That's not possible." He began to feel dizzy. Trying his best not to faint, he closed his eyes and leaned against a random locker, taking deep breaths. "Impossible," he whispered.

"It happened to me once."

"What?"

"I never told anyone. It happened when I was five. With a boy I met a few days ago. We switched back in a couple of days. I told my parents, but they thought I was making it up." Nagihiko tried to meet Ikuto's gaze, but he was looking away. Then, the latter said something the former never would have thought he'd say.

"We're late for class."

So it was on that day that Nagihiko Fujisaki, completely unprepared and freaking out, went to Ikuto Tsukiyomi's history class, in Ikuto Tsukiyomi's body, with no earthly idea what was going to happen to himself next.

* * *

Nagihiko was _not_ used to people staring at him. Well, he was, but not like _that_.

What was he doing wrong? He was just _sitting _there, looking at the teacher like everyone else was supposed to be doing. Why were they looking at him like he was urinating on his desk?

This. Was. So. Weird.

He wasn't used to his new handwriting, either. Ikuto's handwriting was thin and spiky, while Nagihiko's was rounder. #!*% , he wasn't used to _anything_.

"Tsukiyomi-san? Can you answer that?"

He wasn't used to his name, either.

"Tsukiyomi-san."

He wanted his own body back. He needed his own body back. He was going to go insane.

"Tsukiyomi-san!"

His head, which had been lying on the desk, shot up. "Yes?"

"Answer this question."

And he had to _act_ like Ikuto. How would Ikuto act in this situation? "Um, I'm sorry, but I wasn't listening. Could you repeat that?" That was how _Nagihiko_ would act, but he felt like he'd done something wrong.

The teacher sighed in annoyance. "Tsukiyomi-san, you need to pay attention. How long did the Russo-Japanese war last?"

He hadn't even learned that yet. "A year? Two?"

"About that." The teacher went on, and he sighed.

This was impossible. He couldn't be in this situation. He just couldn't be.

* * *

Ikuto chewed on the inside of his cheek, trying to fight his growing disapproval at the girls – the same girls that had ridiculed him – dreamily staring at him. What was with this setup? He wasn't stupid – he knew the guy had fans, but he was disgusted by how blatant they were. There was something called peripheral vision, in case they didn't know – even his haters watched him from the corners of their eyes. However, his new fans were staring right at him, and to be honest, it was a little creepy.

Not only that, it was getting hard to keep the smile on his face. If there was one thing he knew about Nagihiko Fujisaki, it was that he smiled no matter what was happening around him, and it looked perfectly natural. Yet Ikuto _did not smile_. Even if he was feeling okay, his face was completely blank. He couldn't force himself to smile; it came naturally only when he was truly happy. The expression he had on his face looked constipated.

His "smile" twitched. The girls sighed in perfect unison, eyes clouded over like the idiots they were.

Ikuto picked up his pen and began to write, letting his newly long hair fall on both sides so he could rest his face muscles.

* * *

They were in the bathroom at lunch, and Nagihiko spoke first. "Okay, so what do I need to know?"

Ikuto sighed. "We traded schedules, so you know where to go. That one's down. You know that I spend most of my time with Rima, right?"

_Okay, so he calls her Rima. _Nagihiko had stopped panicking about being in another guy's body, and started panicking about how long he could last before people got suspicious. So he was collecting information like crazy. "Yeah, but how am I supposed to act?"

"First of all, stop smiling."

Nagihiko's eyes widened. "Huh?"

"I know that in your body, you smile like crazy. I've been trying to do that, and I think it's worked so far." It _had_ worked, but only because Nagihiko's fans had the IQ of celery. "But you can't smile, or Rima will get suspicious. She knows me well." He shook his head. "Actually, she'll get suspicious anyway, no matter what you do. She can see through people. Just… no matter what she does, don't panic. Rima likes to test people."

"So basically you're saying no matter what I do, she'll get suspicious?"

"Yes. There's no way you can act completely like me, and I think she knows me better than I know myself."

"Are you dating? Do I have to kiss her?" If there was one thing he couldn't handle, it was trying to act romantic.

"No," Ikuto replied. "We're friends."

"Okay. But what about your address? Family?"

"I live right next to the school." He said the address. "I'm sure you'll find it. My house is normal on the inside; you won't get lost or anything. You'll find my room, too. It's completely blue. I do my homework in my room, and have a bathroom inside it which I use. As for family, I have a stepfather. We're not big fans of each other, so don't act too nice. My mom is normal. And I have a sister that goes to an all-girls' school. She… she has a brother complex, so watch out. Is that enough information?" No, it wasn't. There was something huge Ikuto had left out.

"I think so."

"Good. Now tell me about yourself."

"I walk home with Amu. My house is closer to the school than hers, and we go along the same path until my house, so when she stops, that's my house. It looks quite traditional. Well, it _is_ traditional. My father died a long time ago, so I live with my mother and a bunch of maids. We're rich. My room is pretty simple. There's a bed, a bookshelf, and a desk with drawers. That's pretty much it, I guess." No, it wasn't. There was something huge Nagihiko had left out.

[I can tell you left something out, you moron, but I won't say anything because I did too.]

Nagihiko blinked. _Huh?_ He'd just heard a voice, Ikuto's voice, that had seemed to come from all directions at once, yet at the same time seemed to reside solely in his head. "What did you say?"

Ikuto looked extremely satisfied. "So you can hear it. The other guy couldn't."

"Huh?"

"Whenever the guy I switched bodies with directed a thought towards me, I could hear it, but it didn't work vice versa. Try sending a thought to me."

[Um… hello… Tsukiyomi-san.]

The blue-haired teen gave a short laugh. "'Hello, Tsukiyomi-san'? What kind of a message is that?"

"Well, sorry…"

[You know, for a kid as popular as you, you're kind of lame. Anyway, we should practice talking like this.]

[Okay.] Nagihiko decided not to comment on the fact that practically everyone in the school thought _Ikuto_ was lame. [So whenever we get into a situation where we don't know how the other will act, we message each other.]

["Message"?]

[It's the only term I can use right now. Let's go to lunch.]

They departed at different times, so as not to look suspicious.

* * *

"Ikuto."

Nagihiko froze. Turning around slowly to face the blonde girl while holding his lunch, he said, "Hi, Rima." Oh, why did Ikuto have to say that she would get suspicious no matter what? Now, saying he was nervous would be a huge understatement.

"Let's go to lunch." Nagihiko exhaled, nodded wordlessly, and followed her.

They departed to a solitary lunch table, far in the corner of the cafeteria, where they sat and ate in silence. Though it was extremely awkward to Nagihiko, it was the opposite for Rima, as they always did this. Especially since she'd been kind of cold to Ikuto at the beginning of the day.

It wasn't his fault he'd asked about that Fujisaki guy. For a second, she dared to think that it might have been _her_ fault, for not telling him earlier, and then snubbing him. They were supposed to be friends, after all, and he had told her what happened all those years ago, when he was five years old. Compared to that, her fear of that weird popular kid was nothing.

Maybe things could finally go back to normal.

* * *

Ikuto was falling asleep. Amu's chatting was like a lullaby, rising and falling in pitch. The only thing keeping him awake was the weirdness of the "coldest" girl in school… being… like this. Sure, he'd known all along – from when he'd first laid eyes on her, actually – that the whole "Cool and Spicy" thing was just a façade. But…

This was way too different.

"Nagi, did you hear me?"

Ikuto yawned. "No." Some vague part of him felt that "no" hadn't been the right answer. But he didn't really care now; he just wanted to go to sleep.

A look of hurt flashed across Amu's face, but quickly disappeared. "Are you tired?" she asked worriedly. She knew that as Nagihiko had a dance coming up, his mom had been pushing him to practice late into the night.

"Yeah." Well, it was the truth. "Can you let me sleep now?"

Amu frowned; Nagihiko wasn't acting like himself. Maybe it was just an effect of the lack of sleep on his brain… "Okay, I guess."

She grew silent. Ikuto's eyes fluttered shut, and slowly, he was pulled into darkness.

* * *

**Okay, not an ideal ending. But I had no other way to do it… it was getting a bit long. The actual drama will happen later, so basically, this was a boring chapter.**

**I know their reactions weren't realistic, too; if I were in that situation, I'd be freaking out a lot more than Nagi did. So I apologize… and… I apologize for the non-tension, and I apologize for absolutely no Rimahiko/Amuto… and I basically apologize for everything you guys wanted in this chapter that did not happen, because I was too incompetent.**

**I promise the next chapter will be better. That's all.**

* * *

_Preview:_

_[Wait, Fujisaki, I forgot to tell you something.]_

_[What?] Nagihiko desperately hoped it wouldn't be too important, but that was a lot to wish for._

_[When we're communicating with each other like this… well, we can't do it all the time. There's a range. When we get too far from each other, we can't do this anymore.]_

_[What? How far?]_

_[Maybe about –] And suddenly, Ikuto's voice disappeared from his head. The connection had been broken off – he didn't know how he knew; he just did._

_Now all he had to do was survive the night._


	3. Suspicious vs Oblivious

After twenty minutes, Rima finally broke the silence. "Hey."

Nagihiko looked up. "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

Instantly, Nagihiko became alert. [Hey, Tsukiyomi-san. Mashiro-san's apologizing; why is that?] After getting no answer, he risked a tiny glance toward the table he and Amu usually sat.

Ikuto – _it's so weird looking at my own body and knowing it's him_ – was asleep. Knowing he had to deal with this one on his own, Nagihiko decided to go with the safest route. "It's okay."

The blonde's eyes narrowed just marginally. "You don't know what I'm talking about, do you?"

"Huh? Of course I do." Fervently praying this would work, Nagihiko smiled at Rima.

Her eyes narrowed even more. "No, you don't. And why are you smiling?"

He almost asked why he shouldn't be, but then remembered what Ikuto had said about smiling. He quickly wiped it off his face and shrugged. "Remembered something."

Rima frowned indignantly. _He's grinning at my fear of a boy with ridiculously long purple hair? Okay, I guess that _is_ kind of funny… _And the fact that he didn't think what she'd done that morning needed apologizing wasn't really that curious – Ikuto knew she tended to get snippy when her weaknesses were questioned. (Though it _had_ taken her twenty minutes to work up the nerve to say "sorry".) What did bother her, though, was that he'd pretended to know what she was talking about. Ikuto never did that – when he didn't know something, he wouldn't deny it, no matter what the situation…

"Are you sick?" she asked.

"No, why?"

"Because you're not acting like yourself," she replied calmly, twirling her chopsticks.

_Ohnoohnoohnoohnoohno…_ "What do you mean? Of course I am! Why wouldn't I be?" he lied quickly.

Rima's mental lie detector went off. Her eyes became tiny slits, and she put down the chopsticks.

"Who are you?" she whispered, barely audible, and immediately regretted it. What was she thinking? That was _years_ ago! Ikuto was probably sick, and didn't want her to worry. _Stupid me… _

Nagihiko fell silent, afraid he would make her even more suspicious. After a few seconds, Rima let out a sigh and resumed eating her lunch.

Glancing toward his normal table, where Ikuto was now awake, Nagihiko thought, _Ikuto, you'd better not be sleeping next time._

* * *

Ikuto woke up, his brain fogged slightly; he had a feeling Nagihiko had just sent him a message (why was _he_ calling them "messages" too?), but decided to ignore it. For some reason, sending and receiving them tired him out. He wondered if Nagihiko felt the same.

"Oh, Nagi, you're awake?" It was Amu. Right then, he decided that she was the least threatening person to his chances of not getting found out (besides the fangirls, of course – the celery-girls didn't even count as a threat); she was much more different from the "Cool and Spicy" girl than he'd realized, maybe too much for her own good.

"Yeah."

"Lunch is over! Let's go to P.E. together!"

_Smile. I must smile._ "Okay," he said, smiling.

"What's wrong? Your face looks kind of weird."

He sighed. _Yup, definitely smarter than the fans. _"Hinamori – I mean, Amu-chan, I'm not feeling that well. Go on without me. I'll meet you there later."

Her eyes stared anxiously into his. "I guess… I really hope you're all right tomorrow then." She stood up and left, and Ikuto devoted his energy to sending a "message."

[Fujisaki, how do you make your smile look natural?]

[What? What do you mean? Just smile.]

[Great help.]

[Well, what about you? You were sleeping while I was getting chewed out by Mashiro-san! Look, I think she knows something. She asked me who I was!]

[Oh, she finally got suspicious? Whatever, tell me later. I don't know why, but I get tired sending these message thingies. We'll save them for emergencies. Today's Friday, right? Come to my - I mean, come visit your house tomorrow. Assuming we survive the night.] He was actually a bit nervous about that, but hey, if he'd done it at five years old, he could do it now.

[Okay, then.]

Then Ikuto finally remembered – all four of them were in the same physical education class. _Well, at least we can keep an eye on each other now._

The bad thing was that they were dancing; he didn't have the energy to dance, especially not with Amu Hinamori. And also, he thought their P.E. teacher was a bit too overenthusiastic (though for him, all P.E. teachers were overenthusiastic).

Yawning, he slowly stood and left the cafeteria, thinking, _I might actually be happy to go to Nagihiko's house. Even if I get found out, I'll be able to sleep._

* * *

The boys never paid much attention to Nagihiko Fujisaki (it was just the girls that swooned; the only thing the boys cared about was getting him on their sports team), but it was still hard for Ikuto to get to Nagihiko, because the guys made a point of snickering at the latter (in the former's body) every five seconds.

Which Nagihiko was not used to.

So when they finally had a chance to actually see each other, it was amazingly brief; their eyes met for a split second before they were separated by a crowd of males. [Damn,] Nagihiko messaged Ikuto. [How do you stand this stuff?]

[Look, can we not… well… message each other now? I told you, this stuff tires me out. I don't know why; it didn't happen last time I switched. You don't want me to collapse in the middle of class, do you? It might be a blow to your reputation.]

Nagihiko stopped messaging him.

They went out onto the blacktop, where their P.E. teacher immediately shouted, "Who's ready to DANCE?"

Everybody groaned.

"All right, go find a partner!" Nagihiko was about to go to Amu when he remembered… _that_. Could there be any more reasons to hate switching bodies? He went over to Rima instead and smiled. "Hi, Rima."

Alarm bells instantly went off in Rima's head; she hoped the teacher would follow the same procedure she had last year, because Rima needed to talk to Ikuto. Now.

The teacher did. "All right, we'll start with some exercises to get to know your partner better. The first one is called the trust fall. For those of you who don't know it, it's basically where you stand a few feet in front of your partner. When the whistle blows, fall backward and let your partner catch you. Your partner will do the same with you. Any questions?"

Someone raised his hand. "How does this exercise help us" – he made finger quotes – "'get to know our partner better'?" The class laughed.

"Well, it builds trust. Hence the name." The boy rolled his eyes, but the teacher paid no attention. "Any more questions?"

Another boy asked, "What if your partner isn't strong enough to catch you?"

"If you can't keep your partner up, gently set him or her on the ground." More eye rolls. "Any more questions?"

The same question was on almost everyone's minds: _How does this build trust? I'll be catching my partner solely because you're watching us. _But nobody raised their hands, and the teacher said, "Okay, get in position. Girls will go first."

Like last year, it was a bit hard for Rima to force herself to fall, but when the whistle blew, Nagihiko caught her, no problem. "Boys' turn!"

Nagihiko bit his lip. Would Rima be able to catch him? She didn't seem very strong, but who knew? Looks didn't give away everything. When the whistle blew, he fell…

And his head and body crashed onto the blacktop. For a second, he laid there, stunned. Then, pain slowly began to register in his head. Gritting his teeth, he tried not to moan.

The teacher rushed over. "Are you all right, Tsukiyomi-san?" Turning to Rima, she added a bit angrily, "Why didn't you catch him?"

Rima's eyes became huge and doe-like as she went for maximum cuteness. "I-I'm sorry… I wasn't paying attention… I'm really sorry… I won't do it again…" Her eyes glistened with tears.

The teacher's face softened. "Alright, I guess. Just pay attention next time." She looked at Nagihiko. "Bring him to the nurse's office and come back, okay? I'll be your dance partner for today." Rima nodded. Nagihiko stood up, dazed, and followed her into the building.

Nobody except Ikuto saw Rima's satisfied smile. He thought about messaging Nagihiko a warning, but decided against it. He knew with absolute certainty that if he sent or received even two or three messages, he would faint.

But why hadn't he been so tired last time? And why wasn't Nagihiko feeling the same?

* * *

Rima abruptly stopped a few rooms down from the nurse's office. "What's wrong?" Nagihiko asked.

She turned. "I wanted to talk to you. That's why I didn't catch you."

Nagihiko's heart began beating faster. "Yeah?"

"You're not sick," Rima stated plainly. "There's something wrong with you, but you're not sick."

"W-wait, Rima, what are you talking about?"

"You're acting different. The Ikuto I know doesn't act like this."

Nagihiko wanted to send a desperate message to Ikuto. Then he remembered.

_[I told you, this stuff tires me out. I don't know why; it didn't happen last time I switched. You don't want me to collapse in the middle of class, do you? It might be a blow to your reputation.]_

So he stayed silent again. Rima continued. "You're always smiling. Your responses are different. Your attitude is different. Forget it, _you're_ different." She stopped, as if having thought of something. "What happened when you were five? Something that changed your life? Something that made you see from a different perspective, if only for a few days?" Her eyes brimmed mainly with cold suspicion, but also a bit of genuine interest.

Well, at least he knew _this_ answer. "I switched bodies with someone."

Rima smiled, but it was grim, icy. "Do you think that might have happened again?" she whispered.

"I –"

She interrupted, and Nagihiko had to strain to hear her voice. "Who are you?" she asked. The same question she had asked at lunch, except with just a bit more certainty, a bit more confidence.

Silence. Five, ten, fifteen seconds passed. No, he couldn't take this anymore; he sent a message. [Tsukiyomi-san, help me!] Silence. He never thought he'd want to hear Ikuto's voice so much.

Finally, after getting no answer, Nagihiko muttered, "I'm Ikuto Tsukiyomi." He couldn't say anything else. He felt like he was in court; every word could, and would, be used against him, and he'd said too much. Way too much.

Rima wordlessly turned away from him and began walking toward the nurse's office again. Nagihiko followed.

* * *

Ikuto watched the two figures disappear into the building, feeling a bit guilty that he couldn't help Nagihiko out. Throughout two more exercises he was slightly subdued, and finally, Amu asked, "Nagi, you're okay, right?"

Ikuto sighed. "Yeah, I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well… you're not smiling."

Oh, right. He'd forgotten. Irritation creeping into his voice, he snapped, "Do I have to smile all the time?" He had never wanted to sleep so much, and now he had to _smile_.

This time, there was no mistaking the hurt on Amu's face. "Well, I just wanted to help."

Mentally groaning, he managed a small grin and said, "Sorry, Amu-chan. I guess I'm just really tired today. I think I'll be all right tomorrow. I'm just kind of in a bad mood now…"

"Oh, okay." She stared at him, and for a moment, he felt an overwhelming disbelief that this girl – the same girl that had rejected countless boys and had a cold aura about her wherever she went – was actually so pure, so… innocent. They were like different people.

But before he could actually form an opinion about it, a message came from Nagihiko. [Tsukiyomi-san, help me!]

His eyes widened. His remaining energy was zapped from him, and he blacked out.

* * *

It was all over the school in a few minutes: Nagihiko Fujisaki had fainted in P.E. class. Now there were wild rumors circulating all over campus, including that female aliens had poisoned him because he was so good-looking, and they wanted him to die so they could have his body, but because of his super-strength he'd lasted until that moment before blacking out, and even then it was only temporary and he would revive.

Well, not really, but to Nagihiko, it was all the same. Why had he sent that message? It hadn't been useful, and Ikuto _had_ warned him. It was his own fault. He'd panicked. Nagihiko spent the rest of his classes mentally yelling at himself while pressing the melting ice bag to his head.

Around the end of the day, Ikuto sent him a message. [Hey, Fujisaki, I can send messages now, because I slept. I've just woken up now.]

[Um… okay.]

[I'm about to leave. Your mom's driving me home today. She's apologizing for some… dancing thing?] Nagihiko winced. He knew Ikuto was going to find out sooner or later – that was inevitable – but it still made him nervous. If Ikuto decided to tell someone, Nagihiko's life was over.

[You'll see.]

[Okay, sure, I guess.]

[Bye.]

[Wait, Fujisaki, I forgot to tell you something.]

[What?] Nagihiko desperately hoped it wouldn't be too important, but that was a lot to wish for.

[When we're communicating with each other like this… well, we can't do it all the time. There's a range. When we get too far from each other, we can't do this anymore.]

[What? How far?]

[Maybe about –] And suddenly, Ikuto's voice disappeared from his head. The connection had been broken off – he didn't know how he knew; he just did.

Now all they had to do was survive the night.

* * *

**Ugh… I really messed up with the preview thing. After I wrote the part about Ikuto fainting, I realized that I wanted to end it there, but then there was still the issue with the preview, so… I just added it at the end of the chapter. I feel so lame now. :( But I'm still going to put previews, because I am stubborn.**

**Rima's amazingly sharp, right? And Amu is the exactly opposite. Heh. I'm still wondering whether I should make Amu get at least a little suspicious, because after all, she didn't suspect anything _at all_ with the Nadeshiko = Nagihiko issue. But I don't want to make her seem too stupid, either. (On second thought, she probably already seems too stupid, because I sort of wrote her interactions with Ikuto in the latter's point of view.)**

**And of course, I will make Nagihiko freak out some more. I don't know why I like making Nagihiko all worried and OMG-I'M-GOING-TO-DIE-ish, but I do… O.o**

**Anyway, that's all. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and hope I don't mess up the preview thing again! (I'm making it really short, so even if I _do_ mess up, the end result isn't too horrible.)**

* * *

_Preview:_

_Ikuto felt himself stiffen. "Sorry?"_

_Nagihiko's mom chuckled quietly. "You may look like him, but do you really think I can't tell who my son is? Now, tell me who you are, or I'm going to kick you out of my house."_


	4. Pop Stars and Pink Kimonos

Nagihiko wandered around the streets, Ikuto's address in his head. After a while, he found the house. Fumbling with Ikuto's keys, he unlocked the door and stepped inside.

It was eerily quiet. Hadn't Ikuto said something about a sister? Maybe she wasn't home –

"IKUTOOOOOOOO!"

And suddenly he was being wrestled to the ground, and a voice was squealing "Ikuto" over and over right in his ear, and _oh no I can't breathe_ –

He managed to struggle to his feet, pushing whoever it was off him. "Hey, what are you doing?"

The girl pouted. "I'm sorry, but I'm just so happy you're home! You usually come when it's dinner!" And when Nagihiko got a good look at her, his mouth dropped open.

It was Utau Hoshina. The famous fourteen-year-old pop star.

Utau Hoshina was Ikuto's _younger sister_. The complete and utter loser of the school was related to the singing sensation of Japan. And Ikuto had said Utau had a brother complex (he could see that now).

This was about as unbelievable as the whole switching-bodies thing. To make sure this was really Utau, he tried using her name in a sentence. "Look, Utau, what if someone sees us like this? The paparazzi will definitely take advantage of it."

Utau scowled. "Yeah, I wouldn't put it past my stalkers." Then, she beamed. "But I still love you, Ikuto! Hey, hey, I wrote a new song! Let me sing it for you. Wait, but I have to do homework first… there's a huge test coming up tomorrow… and that project… damn," she muttered. "But I promise I'll do it tomorrow!" She ran up the stairs.

_"I love you."_ Nagihiko knew she was referring to Ikuto, but he still felt his face turning slightly red. Then, some of that color drained from his face as he wondered, _If people knew Utau was his younger sister, and that his sister had a_ crush _on him, he could rise to instant popularity. He wouldn't be ridiculed anymore; people would respect him as a king…_

_So why doesn't he let them know?_

* * *

The truth was, Ikuto was surprised that Nagihiko even had a car. He didn't know why, but something about the boy made him think he walked everywhere – though, of course, that was a ridiculous assumption. He was surprised at himself; he had thought he wasn't stereotypical – or at least not _that_ stereotypical.

Whatever.

Answering Nagihiko's mom's apologies about some dancing thing with a simple, vague "That's okay", he surveyed the surroundings, trying to remember where he was and how to get there. There was a good chance the clueless Amu wouldn't get suspicious when he couldn't find his house, but better safe than sorry.

When he got home, he turned and was about to dump his backpack into Nagihiko's room when his (Nagihiko's) mother called, "Wait."

He turned back. "What?"

Her eyes narrowed slightly. "You will not speak like that in this household."

_Seriously? _"Yes, mother."

"Good. Now put this on." She tossed him a pink kimono, seemingly from nowhere. His eyes widened, and he gaped slightly, unable to speak. What the heck?

Nagihiko's mom sighed. "Alright, stop pretending now. Who are you?"

Ikuto felt himself stiffen. "Sorry?"

Nagihiko's mom chuckled quietly. "You may look like him, but do you really think I can't tell who my son is? Now, tell me who you are, or I'm going to kick you out of my house."

There was no avoiding this now. "I'm Ikuto Tsukiyomi," he replied calmly, having resigned himself to his fate. "I switched bodies with your son." _Either way, she's going to kick me out. I guess I'll tell the truth. _Actually, during a rough period of time with his stepfather (well, rough even for his relationship with his stepfather), he'd lived on the streets for a week and secretly snuck into his home at night for food. Hopefully, Nagihiko would be the one to sneak him food this time…

So he told the story. How he had met Nagihiko and switched bodies, and how they could communicate with their minds. Honestly, there wasn't much to tell, but he told it anyway, in as much detail as he possibly could. When he was done, he braced himself for the indignant shouting.

Her response was completely unexpected. "I believe you."

"You do?" He raised an eyebrow. "Why?" If he were her, he wouldn't have believed it under any circumstances.

"My son is quite talented at lying, you know? So I've had some practice. I can tell you're telling the truth, and you don't seem to be mentally disabled…"

"Wait, _he's_ good at lying?" He'd thought Nagihiko didn't know how to lie; another ridiculous assumption. It seemed he _was_ stereotypical.

"Yes. I suppose he hasn't told you he must dress as a girl to dance? His stage name is Nadeshiko Fujisaki."

"Oh, so _that's_ why you handed me a pink kimono…" And as he and Nagihiko's mother chatted on, he couldn't help but feel that it was a lot more relaxing to have someone else in on the secret. He could only imagine what Nagihiko was going through right now, what with Utau and his stepfather.

A nagging voice at the back of his head told him: _And your own mother._ But he shook it off.

* * *

Ikuto's room was… blue.

That was honestly the only way to describe it. The ceiling, floor and walls were painted a deep, pure blue. Even the bedposts, bookshelf, and desk were blue. His laptop had a blue cover on it. His mouse had a blue cover on it. His keyboard had a blue cover on it. Everything imaginable in the room – even some things _not_ imaginable – was blue. Nagihiko felt dizzy.

Suddenly, he heard a knock on the blue door. Walking over to it and turning the blue doorknob, he pulled it open and said, "Yes?" Then, he choked on his own saliva, because someone even more unbelievable was standing right in front of him.

Kazuomi Hoshina, the boss of Easter – the very same company Utau Hoshina worked for. There _had_ been rumors that the two were related, but they had soon been dismissed by the mere fact that Utau was beautiful, while Kazuomi… not so much. But here he was, and there was only one thing he could be. Ikuto's stepfather.

How had he managed to keep this a secret for so long? It absolutely amazed Nagihiko, and he was the one who had to dress as a girl; it seemed he was being challenged, in secret-keeping terms. Finally, he managed to get some words out. "I – um – hello, stepfather?" He winced at the tone of his voice: uncertain and slightly creeped out.

"Dinner," Kazuomi replied sharply. He turned and walked away, but not before muttering under his breath, "Brat had to come back early today."

Nagihiko just followed him, biting his lip nervously. Utau and Ikuto's mother were at the table. "I'm… glad you came back early today," the latter said faintly, seemingly unable to look him in the eye.

"Souko, don't lie," Kazuomi said coldly. "It's not like he cares what you think." Souko frowned, but said nothing.

Suddenly, Utau stood up, furious. "He cares!" she screamed. "It's you two that don't care! How could you say that, you bastard? I wish we'd never seen your face! I wish you'd never met my mother!"

He shot her down with a simple reply. "You work for me. Don't speak to me like that." She sat down again, silenced but still glowering.

It was becoming painfully obvious Ikuto didn't have the best – or most normal – relationships with his family…

* * *

Ikuto woke up, feeling more refreshed than he had in the last day. Picking up Nagihiko's cell phone, he called his own number.

_"Hello?"_

"Hey, Fujisaki."

_"Utau is your sister. Kazuomi is your stepfather. Your family is weird. Your room is blue."_

"Yeah, yeah, we'll talk about that later, cross-dresser." He felt Nagihiko flinch from the other side of the line, and chuckled. "Come over to my house. Or your house."

_"Now?"_

"Yup."

Thirty minutes later, Nagihiko arrived and rang the doorbell. He was greeted by his own mother. "Who are you?" she asked.

It felt weird for his mom to be talking to him like that. "Um, I'm Ikuto Tsukiyomi, and I –"

"Hello, Nagihiko. Seems you don't have to practice dance anymore until your bodies switch back."

"Okay – wait, _what_?"

"Tsukiyomi-san told me. We're actually getting along quite well."

Forget about being challenged in terms of secret-keeping; he couldn't believe Ikuto had let it slip already. Although it was true his mom watched him a lot more than Ikuto's, how could he have told someone within a day of living in his body? Nagihiko sighed. "Alright, just let me in then." She nodded and pushed the door open a bit wider, letting him walk in. "Hey, Tsukiyomi-san!" he called.

Said boy replied, "I'm in your room."

Making his way to his calmingly familiar room, he opened the door and immediately asked, "How could you tell her already?"

"Sorry. Besides, I didn't get put into a mental hospital, so everything's okay."

"Fine, whatever. But seriously, don't tell anyone I have to pretend to be a girl. It's going to ruin my life." Nagihiko sighed. "Not that you really care or anything."

Ikuto lifted a shoulder carelessly. "I don't. But I don't want you to tell anyone who I'm related to, so I guess we're even."

"Why don't you want anyone to know? Do you have any idea how fast you could rise in the social food chain?"

"First of all, my stepfather's a jerk. I don't know how you would feel, but I'm actually not proud of that. Second of all, I absolutely hate popularity, and I've only been popular for a day. What's so great about having a bunch of brainless fans around you all that time?" Ikuto's voice, once emotionless, was now filled with conviction. "Rima was right, you know? She was popular once. When she came here, she didn't want to be popular again."

Nagihiko blinked in surprise. "Okay, okay. I –"

His (Ikuto's) phone rang, and he pulled it out. "Hello?"

_"Hey, Ikuto?"_ It was Utau. _"Um, one of my friends wants to meet you. Right now."_ He looked at the real Ikuto, who just shrugged.

"Okay, I'll come."

* * *

_Utau squeezed her eyes shut angrily. She liked Ikuto, and she wasn't a slut. She couldn't like this guy and Ikuto at the same time._

_So why was she feeling like this?_

_"Hey, are you okay?" the boy, named Kukai Souma, asked._

_"Yeah," she lied. "Let's eat."_

_"Nope, you're not okay." Stupid guy. "What's wrong?"_

_Utau knew from experience that telling the truth was always the best lie, but she couldn't exactly say she had a crush on someone else, right? So she decided to say something different. "My brother finally came home early for once, and Kazuomi treated him like a piece of shit. And I know this sounds really selfish, considering what's happening to him right now, but I really, really wanted him to hear my new song. It's the one about him. _Blue Moon. _The CD's coming out next month…" She sighed, rubbing her forehead. "So annoying…"_

_"Hey." Utau looked up. "You always talk about your brother, and you say that you have a crush on him, which I still swear I won't tell anyone…"_

_"Uh huh. Are you jealous or something?"_

_"Nope," he answered confidently. Stupid… "But I was just wondering, who _is_ your brother anyway? Just describe him."_

_"His name is Ikuto Tsukiyomi. He has blue hair and blue eyes. He's three years older than I am. And he looks absolutely nothing like me. Why?" She noticed that Kukai was staring at her in shock. "What?"_

_He took a deep breath. "Did his – I mean, your – parents make him take a soccer class in this neighborhood when he was five? Are their names Aruto and Souko Tsukiyomi?"_

_Utau scowled. "Not the Aruto part. My father's dead." She was surprised at his response._

_"Take me to him. Now."_

So now she was stuck introducing them to each other. Both boys were awkward and silent as she said bluntly, "This is Kukai Souma. This is Ikuto Tsukiyomi. I'll leave you guys alone now." She left the room, shutting the door behind her.

Nagihiko was quite surprised to be reunited with Kukai like this – they'd met when he'd taken a vacation to Tokyo (Kukai had been vacationing too), and had been good friends for the remainder of his time there. He'd thought he'd never see him again, but it seemed they lived in the same city. And now, he couldn't exactly jump up and hug him while he was in Ikuto's body.

He was snapped out of his reverie by Kukai. "Hey, do you even remember me?"

"I…" Kukai's eyes were different, much more serious than Nagihiko had known they could be.

"How could you forget? I switched bodies with you when you were five years old."

* * *

**I'm pretty sure you were expecting that when Kukai asked about the soccer class. Not a big surprise. I guess I was kind of reluctant to write this chapter, because 1) it had absolutely no pairing interaction, besides Kutau (but that was just one scene, and it's not a major pairing), and 2) I started another story. But I'm back now.**

**Random spoiler that doesn't really matter: Yaya is Kukai's cousin in the story. She has brown hair in the story, too, even though I've always considered it orange.**

**I don't really have anything else I'm bursting to say, so… bye, and please review, I guess.**

**P.S. I don't have _anything_ in the next chapter planned out, so it's going to take a while to update. Also, I'm going to have to try really hard to stuff the preview in there, though it's also kind of short. But it's longer than the last one, of course.**

* * *

_Preview:_

_"Hey, Nagihiko, you really _have_ been acting weird lately. Just tell me what's going on, okay? I'm your friend. I'll help you."_

_Ikuto usually thought before he spoke, but even he couldn't help the comment that came out next. "You really are too nice for your own good."_

_There was no mistaking the hurt in Amu's eyes now. "Well, then," she snapped, standing up, "if you don't want me to be nice to you, I won't." And with that, she stormed away, ignoring the weird looks they were receiving from the people around them._

_Rumors would definitely start.  
_


	5. Decision

Kukai honestly didn't know whether to be ecstatic or frustrated. He'd been looking for this guy ever since he discovered how to use a phone book (ten years ago). And it turned out that he'd known the guy's sister ever since he was twelve (five years ago).

_Twelve-year-old Kukai narrowed his eyes at the goal as he told himself, _You better not mess up this time. They're gonna get mad later. _True, he was practicing alone in the park, but he liked to pretend his teammates were surrounding him, yelling. There was more pressure involved._

_He kicked the soccer ball. It missed the top left corner of the net by barely an inch, flying out onto the sidewalk and landing at a small girl's feet. Cursing himself, he shouted, "Excuse me, could you get that?"_

_The girl blinked at him for a second before picking it up and calling, "Come get it yourself. You kicked it here." Kukai couldn't tell if she was making fun of him or not, but whatever the tone of her voice was, he didn't like it. Frowning, he walked up to her, holding out his hand expectantly. For a few moments, they just stared each other down, the girl holding the ball. Kukai had a vague feeling that he'd seen her somewhere before, but he couldn't place where. _

_Suddenly, the girl threw the ball forward, high over his head; he grabbed it in the nick of time, thanking his reflexes. She scowled. "Darn it."_

_He just grinned at her triumphantly. Then, finally placing her appearance along with her voice, said, "Hey, aren't you that nine-year-old girl that won the singing contest on TV against a bunch of teenagers?"_

_"Yeah. Utau Hoshina. And don't use 'nine-year-old' to describe me. I hate how everyone thinks being racist or sexist is a bad thing, but pretty much everyone nowadays is age-ist, and nobody thinks twice about it. I'm not a little kid."_

_"Age-ist. Nice term. And you kind of are a little kid, you know? You should be happy you're being praised for your age. I mean, if you were a teenager nobody would even care that you won a contest."_

_"Exactly. I don't want to be praised for a number – oh, forget it, why am I talking to you? I don't even know who you are." She turned, and as she did, something slipped out of her pocket. He picked it up._

_"A ramen voucher?"_

_She whirled around and snatched it out of his hands. "Give it!"_

_"You eat ramen?"_

_"So? Only adults can eat it?"_

_"Nope, I do too!"_

_"Sexist, then. So only males are supposed to eat ramen?"_

_He groaned. "I'm not trying to be prejudiced; I'm just saying, you eat ramen?"_

_"Yes, and you sounded surprised."_

_"Fine. Hey, did you know that there's a challenge thing in the ramen shop nearby? Finish the extra-large serving, complete with any toppings you like, in thirty minutes, and it's free."_

_Utau's eyes flashed. "Are you challenging me?"_

_"Maybe. Because you are a kid, after all."_

_She smirked at him. "Okay, let's go, then." Pausing, she added, "Who are you, anyway?"_

_"Kukai Souma. And I'm three years older than you."_

_"Right."_

_So they'd gone, and competed (Utau had won, much to Kukai's dismay and her glee), and somehow become friends in the process. He'd stayed at her side as she slowly became famous, from the winner of a stupid contest to a famous international star. He'd stayed at her side even when the transition from junior high to high school demanded almost all his time, especially since he'd signed up for the soccer team, the basketball team, and even – he wouldn't have guessed – the student council. _

_He was really the first true friend she'd ever had, and vice versa. However, he knew she was a bit sensitive about her private life for some reason, so he'd ended up telling her quite a lot about himself, but never asked her anything. And she really didn't say anything, either._

And now he regretted it. If only he'd at least asked her about that brother a bit earlier…

Said brother blinked. "You were the one who –" Then he shook his head. "Look, I don't know how to tell you this, but… I'm not Ikuto Tsukiyomi. Remember the guy you met in Tokyo? Nagihiko Fujisaki? That's who I am. We switched bodies."

"Huh?"

He elaborated, but when he was done, Kukai hadn't really gotten that much wiser. "So you're saying Tsukiyomi switched bodies with someone _again_? How is that possible?"

"How is it even possible to switch bodies with someone once?"

Kukai shook his head. "It is. I have a friend with a really smart brother-in-law who used to be a robotics teacher. I went to him after I switched bodies, and he actually believed me. Later, when I got older, I asked him if he was just humoring me, and he said he was doing some research at the time, and he said it was possible. But he wasn't sure. If it was, though, there would be like a one in a gazillion chance of that happening."

"Seriously?"

"Yup. Just don't ask me for a scientific explanation."

Nagihiko grabbed Kukai by the shoulders, saying urgently, "Is there a way to switch us back?"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down. I don't know, okay? All I know is, there might be an explanation. That's it. I have no other info."

"How did you guys switch back, then?"

"I don't know!"

Nagihiko sighed, feeling exasperated. "Sorry. But you have no idea how much I want to just go back to my own body again."

"Don't worry, I'm sure Tsukiyomi feels the same way."

"Shut up."

Kukai just laughed. "Hey, I have to go now. See you around, okay?" And suddenly, despite what was happening to him, Nagihiko felt more light-hearted than he'd been in a long time.

"Yeah." Kukai left, and Utau peeked out from her room.

She should have known Ikuto wouldn't make anything up, even at the age of five. As she herself had only been two, all she remembered was her parents' patronizing comments about Ikuto having an overactive imagination in later life – before, of course, her father had died.

Normally, she would have interrogated this guy and threatened to cut off his balls until he broke down in tears (though she'd never really cut off her brother's balls), but that wasn't her first priority right now. Her first priority was to find out whose body her brother was in, and… wait.

To do that, she'd need information.

Never mind. She needed to interrogate this guy and threaten to cut off his balls until he broke down in tears. But she had to find the right time to do it.

* * *

On Monday, Nagihiko was in Ikuto's first class when he thought of something. [Tsukiyomi-san, it seems you don't go home all that early, from your family's reactions when I got home. Where do you go?]

[Oh, I don't really go anywhere. I just hang around the streets, take a walk, buy some food from restaurants, and just basically get to know the city better.]

[You have money?]

[I always carry spare money. Check your pockets.]

Nagihiko did. [You call fifty thousand yen "spare money"?]

[You're exaggerating. It's probably only forty-seven thousand. Now stop talking to me, or I'm going to faint again.]

He sighed; Ikuto was blunt as always.

[Okay, then.]

* * *

Lunch meant the doom of Nagihiko Fujisaki.

Lunch was court, and Nagihiko Fujisaki was a murderer.

Lunch meant Rima Mashiro, a judge that, no matter what he said, could always find some loophole to prove him guilty.

Lunch was, to put it in a word, suicide.

But he went anyway, because he couldn't think of anything else to do, besides actually commit suicide.

"So, _Ikuto_," Rima said, eyes glittering with determination, "how are things going at home?"

"Um… it's normal," he replied nervously. "Nothing special's happening."

"Oh, really?" She let the words come out slowly, pronouncing each syllable clearly and with an equal amount of disbelief.

Already unable to take the pressure, he marveled slightly at how hard this seemingly innocent girl could push when she wanted answers. "I need to go to the bathroom." Nagihiko abruptly stood up and left the table, heart pounding.

He needed to talk to Ikuto. [Hey, Tsukiyomi-san, can you go to the men's locker room right now? There's most likely nobody there, and we need to talk.]

* * *

An extremely awkward silence hovered over Amu and Ikuto as they ate; the usually chatty pink-haired girl seemed to be pondering something. Finally, she broke the silence. "Hey, Nagihiko, you really _have_ been acting weird lately. Just tell me what's going on, okay? I'm your friend. I'll help you."

Ikuto usually thought before he spoke, but even he couldn't help the comment that came out next. "You really are too nice for your own good."

There was no mistaking the hurt in Amu's eyes now. "Well, then," she snapped, standing up, "if you don't want me to be nice to you, I won't." And with that, she stormed away, ignoring the weird looks they were receiving from the people around them.

Rumors would definitely start. For some reason, Ikuto thought about chasing after the girl, but shook his head. That would just make things worse. However, even he couldn't help but feel slightly guilty; she had just been worried about her friend.

Then, he got a message from – the guy always seemed to need help – Nagihiko. [Hey, Tsukiyomi-san, can you go to the men's locker room right now? There's most likely nobody there, and we need to talk.]

[Sure.] Ikuto stood up and went there. Nagihiko was already inside, and Ikuto raised an eyebrow, prompting him to speak.

"I think we should tell them. Amu and Mashiro-san."

For perhaps the first time in front of him, Ikuto looked shocked. Then, his expression immediately changed to annoyance. "No."

"Okay, I'll admit it; I'm about to crack. Maybe you can, but I can't live with Mashiro-san breathing down my neck. I need to tell her, or she's going to force it out of me anyway."

"You are _pathetic_," Ikuto muttered, and for once, even Nagihiko couldn't help but agree with him. "Fine, then. You can tell Rima. I won't tell Hinamori, though. She's already mad enough as it is."

"What? She's mad at me – I mean, you?"

"Yeah. I kind of said she was too nice for her own good."

Nagihiko's eyes widened. "I need to tell her too, then. She's one of my only true friends, and if I lose her…" He shook his head. "I have to let her know that wasn't me."

Ikuto looked on, unimpressed. "Okay, fine. Tell both of them. But I doubt Hinamori's going to believe it when the most unpopular guy in the school tells her he's actually her friend who switched bodies with the actual unpopular guy, who… oh, never mind. The point is, she'll think you're insane."

"Then you'll have to be with me," Nagihiko replied quietly. "I won't be able to do it alone."

"No."

He bit his lip. "Please…"

Staring at him, Ikuto asked, "Why do you want to tell them so much?"

"I already told you. Mashiro-san's making me crack and I need to tell Amu you were the one who got her mad. Not me."

"No, there's another reason."

After a pause, he admitted, "I don't know."

Ikuto smirked slightly. "Nice excuse. Alright, fine. But I'll tell the story, so in case they don't believe us, you're going to be the one sounding like a maniac."

"So you'll help me?"

The truth was, he wasn't sure. There was something in him that refused, shouted to him that no matter what, he _could not_ tell them. Something that said he – crazy as it seemed – would be putting his life in danger.

But he ignored it. "Yes."

* * *

**Okay… not much action in this chapter, and I'm sorry. But hey, at least I came up with something… (Heh. That's my excuse. "At least I came up with something." Sigh…) I would apologize for the non-romance, too, but then I wouldn't really mean it. Because if I were truly sorry, then I would actually write more romance. But that's my style, I suppose; almost none of my stories have even a hint of romance in the first few chapters.**

**There's more Kutau in the story (and this chapter) than I anticipated, though. I hope that doesn't get in the way of the two major pairings. (Who am I kidding? The only romance so far has been Kutau. O.o)**

**I would say, "So now Ikuto and Nagihiko will tell Rima and Amu what's going on! Will they believe them or not! Will romance form? DUNDUNDUNDUN!" But that would be kind of weird.**

**WARNING: Extremely awkward preview up ahead. Like, most will stare at the computer screen for ten seconds, going, "What the heck just happened?" And it's not awkward in a good way. Or maybe it is. I have no idea.**

**That's all. Bye, and please review!**

* * *

_Preview:_

_Rima stared at them for a while, narrowed eyes darting back and forth between the two. Then, she spoke. "So you're Fujisaki, and you're Ikuto?"_

_"Yeah," Ikuto replied calmly. "And I know you're going to test one of us to see if we're telling the truth, so go ahead."_

_An odd smile appeared on Rima's face. "Right." Then she leaned forward… and kissed Nagihiko on the lips._


	6. Smiles

Nagihiko walked back to lunch, feeling satisfied and nervous at the same time. "Um, Rima?" he asked hesitantly when he got to the table. She looked up. "After school… could you meet me outside the auditorium? I have something to tell you."

Rima raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Who I am," he sighed.

And for the first time since Nagihiko had met her, she smiled. "Okay."

* * *

"Hey, Amu-chan!" He was sick of calling her "Amu-chan". He had never called anyone by the suffix "-chan" in his life before now; Kukai had called everyone by their last names.

Amu turned around, and seeing Ikuto there, glared at him. "What are you doing here, Nagihiko?"

"I know you're mad at me, but meet me outside the auditorium at school. I'll tell you something that might account for my… weird behavior," he replied seriously. Without waiting for her answer, he walked away.

She would come. He knew it.

* * *

They were now outside the auditorium, and Rima was now staring at Amu and Ikuto (in Nagihiko's body) with an intensity matched only by Amu, who was staring at Rima and Nagihiko (in Ikuto's body). Finally, the two turned to the male next to them and said in unison, "What are _they_ doing here?"

Nagihiko cast a slightly helpless glance towards Ikuto, who sighed in frustration. "Okay, I'm going to put it bluntly. Fujisaki and I switched bodies yesterday morning, and we've been keeping it secret ever since. I'm Ikuto Tsukiyomi. He's Nagihiko Fujisaki."

Silence. To everyone's surprise, it was the most shocked of the group, Amu, who broke the silence – although her words weren't exactly… intelligent. "I –what – but – how –"

She was immediately cut off by Rima, who couldn't stand to hear illiterate rambling for more than a few seconds. "I should've known."

More silence. Rima stared at them for a while, narrowed eyes darting back and forth between the two. Then, she spoke. "So you're Fujisaki, and you're Ikuto?"

"Yeah," Ikuto replied calmly. "And I know you're going to test one of us to see if we're telling the truth, so go ahead."

An odd smile appeared on Rima's face. "Right." Then she leaned forward… and kissed Nagihiko on the lips.

The effect was instantaneous. Nagihiko stumbled back, turning so red he looked like he was diseased and becoming more incoherent than Amu, stammering in what seemed, to the rest, to be another language. Rima just watched him incredulously, not even needing to speak out loud what she was thinking. _This is _not_ Ikuto._

Ikuto chuckled. "Nice work, Rima. Though I do admit I'm ashamed to see my body react like that." And when Rima turned, looking straight at him, she saw a mischievous, almost cat-like personality hidden deep beneath a cold, blunt persona.

Ikuto. It was Ikuto. How had she not noticed this sooner? _Because I can't see through Nagihiko, _she thought bitterly. If it had been anyone, _anyone_ else, she would have known within the first two minutes of speaking to him or her. But… it didn't matter now, did it? "Glad you're back, Ikuto."

Amu had gotten over her shock, and now wanted answers. "Hey, what are you guys even talking about?" she asked derisively, reverting to her "spicy" façade. "Are you trying to play a trick on me or something? It's impossible to switch bodies with someone, so –"

An impatient Rima interrupted her again with, "Hinamori, first of all, the 'Cool and Spicy' act is really getting annoying, and second of all, it's not impossible. There are lots of things modern science hasn't discovered, and accidental body-switching might be one of them."

Amu scowled. "Well, it's not _likely_ –"

"Who knows?" Rima continued, as if she hadn't even heard. "Maybe there will be a cure for it. Maybe lots of people have switched bodies with someone, but haven't told for fear of getting put in a mental hospital. Maybe the reason will be discovered. And besides, it's a lot less likely Ikuto would trick me like this than a new affliction involving switching bodies getting found. I don't know anything about Fujisaki, but I know Ikuto a lot better than you do, and he wouldn't do that." She raised her eyebrows, as if challenging the other.

The pink-haired girl scoffed. "Look how many 'maybes' were in that speech. You're pathetic."

"Three 'maybes', to be exact. And you're the one that's pathetic. I know what you're really like."

"What?" Amu blinked, not sure if she'd heard right.

"I said, I know what you're really like. You act cool, and like you're better than everyone else in the world, but you're actually insecure. You freak out over the tiniest things, and you're way too nice for your own good. True?"

Amu felt like she was suffocating. "I… I…" she whispered, unable to say anything else.

Rima rolled her eyes and turned to the two guys, who were watching with respective amusement and concern. "I have to go home now." Then, she fixed her eyes on Nagihiko, who shifted slightly under her gaze. "Tomorrow, I'll teach you how to act like Ikuto. It was way too obvious you weren't him."

She left, but after they couldn't see her anymore, her expression changed from one of contempt to one of slight worry. Would she be able to handle teaching him – _him_, of all people – how to act like her best friend?

* * *

Nagihiko was currently pinned to the ground by a surprisingly strong Utau. And she wasn't squealing over him, either.

"Where is my brother?" she hissed.

"Hey, Utau, let me go –"

"Don't call me by my name!" Utau shouted, squeezing his neck so hard he began to choke. "Where is he?"

"Just let me go!"

"No! Do I have to repeat myself? Where is my brother?"

"Look, I don't know what you're talking about, I'm your brother –"

"I heard your conversation with Kukai! Now tell me, or I'm going to cut your balls off!"

Well, there was no use pretending now. "I'm Nagihiko Fujisaki, and my brother is at my house! Get off!"

She got off, her threatening demeanor replaced with urgency. "Take me to my brother."

"But –"

And seemingly from nowhere, she whipped out an extremely dull kitchen knife. "Balls. Brother. _Now_."

Nagihiko shuddered.

* * *

Ikuto was peacefully taking a nap when the door burst open. Sleepily, he muttered, "Who –"

And then he was tackled.

"Utau, get off," he groaned, too tired to even move as she smothered him with hugs. Only when she kissed him extremely close to the mouth did he sit up, push her off, and give both her and Nagihiko annoyed looks. "Seriously?" he asked the latter, rubbing his forehead. "I knew she would figure out sometime, but did you have to bring her here?"

"She threatened to cut off my balls!"

"She always does that."

"But Ikuto, it was because I love you!"

"She had a kitchen knife!"

"That was to scare you. Looks like it worked."

"Your sister is crazy!" He usually didn't insult people in their faces – or behind their backs, for that matter – but having his balls threatened was _traumatizing_.

Utau's eyes flashed. "Hey, purple-haired guy, your name is Fujisaki, right? And you have a twin sister named Nadeshiko that's kind of known, right? I went one of her performances. Tell her that Utau Hoshina thinks her dancing sucks."

Nagihiko's mouth dropped open in shock and fury. "_What did you say?_"

And for the first time in a long time, Ikuto laughed.

* * *

"Stop smiling."

Rima was getting extremely frustrated, and it was only five minutes into lunch. "Look, what's wrong with you? Can't you relax your face muscles for two seconds?"

"Well, I guess it's just a habit…" Nagihiko smiled sheepishly.

"Stop smiling."

"Oops…"

"Alright, I'll test you again. What is Ikuto's favorite color?"

"Dark blue."

"Favorite animal?"

"Cat."

"Favorite clothing brand?"

"Um… I don't know…"

"He doesn't have one, and _stop smiling_!"

Nagihiko winced. "Sorry –"

"Don't make that face. Ikuto always looks neutral, like he's not feeling anything at all. The face you just had on would be his face when his balls were being slashed open."

_She's just like Utau. _"Well, isn't that bad? Not to show emotions?"

"Not necessarily – OKAY, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? STOP SMILING!" Rima shouted, finally snapping at the sight of Nagihiko's grin. (Actually, it hadn't even been a grin, but she interpreted it as one.) The entire room grew silent as people stopped in mid-chew and began staring at her. After a few moments, the room began buzzing again – though most of the talk was now about Rima.

"Sorry about –"

"Stop. Smiling," she snarled, grabbing her chopsticks and beginning to maul her food.

The only reason she had volunteered to do this was so she could study his personality, but it seemed her plan was backfiring.

She never thought her own façade would crumble so easily just because she was annoyed by him.

* * *

"Smile!"

Ikuto rolled his eyes. "Really? So he doesn't even relax his face muscles for two seconds at a time?"

Amu sighed. "Well, he just smiles a lot."

"Why should I, though? His fans are too stupid to be able to tell whether I'm smiling or not."

"Well, yeah… but just in case a smart fan comes along!"

"Smart people are never that obsessed with a completely normal guy. You know, most of the time, it's actually the fans that know least about a person." Suddenly, Ikuto noticed that Amu was staring at him. "What?"

"Smile! It's creepy to see Nagihiko's face like that!"

He forced himself to smile, but it came out more like a grimace. Amu frowned and opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, a shout came from the table Rima and Nagihiko were. "OKAY, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? STOP SMILING!"

The whole room grew silent for a few moments. Then, they resumed eating and talking, but Ikuto caught Rima's name within the conversation a couple times.

Amu bit her lip, trying not to laugh – ever since their encounter the day before, she'd decided she didn't like Rima. "Well, I guess she's having a harder time than I am." She paused. "Tsukiyomi-san, smile!"

In response, Ikuto somehow managed to lift the corners of his lips in a way to make him look like he was glaring.

He probably was.

* * *

_Warning: I have changed the subcategory from "Supernatural" to "Sci-Fi". I was reluctant to do this at first, because my "scientific explanation" I came up with in thirty seconds had no actual scientific support, and would probably be proved wrong by an actual scientist who studied this in LESS than thirty seconds. But then, I decided that "Supernatural" fit the subcategory less, because there were no… actual… supernatural beings. I know, I know._

**I know the part where Nagihiko freaked out because of Rima's kiss was kind of OOC, but… DO NOT READ THE REST OF THIS PARAGRAPH IF YOU DO NOT LIKE SPOILERS ABOUT THE CHARACTERS… okay, fine, a secret of his is that he has an aversion to romance. Like, one of the first questions he asked Ikuto was if he were dating Rima, and if he had to kiss her. And later, when Utau said she loved him while he was in Ikuto's body, he got embarrassed even though he knew she was referring to Utau. And… I can't believe I just revealed that. I can't keep secrets for long when it comes to fanfiction. -_- Anyway, I'm still not sure why exactly I made him dislike romance, but what's done is done.**

**I'm just going to give another spoiler here, because I have no idea what else to say. Yaya, Kairi, and Yuu (Nikaidou) have yet to make an appearance in the story, and to be honest, I'm not sure when they will. But Kairi and Yuu, at least, will have HUGE roles in the story. Almost as much as Ikuto, Amu, Rima, and Nagihiko themselves.**

**Besides what I mentioned about Nagihiko, is there anything too OOC about any of the characters? Because that's probably what I'm most paranoid about.**

**Bye, and please review!**

* * *

_Preview:_

_What was wrong with her? For some reason, now that she had to spend every day with him, she felt like she needed to find out what his real personality was. Why she couldn't see it. It was eating away at her, like a disease. But she couldn't exactly call him or anything, since she didn't know his…_

_Right. She was so stupid._

_Picking up her phone, she dialed Ikuto's number, hoping Nagihiko would pick up._


	7. Weekend

Rima cautiously stepped into the house, calling a timid, "Mom, are you home?" She hoped it wasn't one of those days where her mom had to work late; it would be too much for her. Casting a glance around her, she entered the living room and felt a rush of relief at the sight of her mother sleeping on the couch.

Her mother. The one that had done so much for her. Even though Rima knew Ikuto had it a lot worse, she couldn't help but feel jealous of him – just a little.

At least he didn't feel indebted to anyone.

Rima walked upstairs and lay down on her bed, not in the mood to do homework. Something else was bothering her, and it wasn't her mom. It couldn't be her mom; she was sleeping peacefully – for now, at least. It was Nagihiko, the boy who kept smiling.

She didn't know anything other than that. He always smiled. And if he ever didn't smile – if he frowned or raised an eyebrow or anything – then he wasn't really… feeling the emotions. He wasn't really sad or skeptical or anything his facial expression conveyed. He was pretending to feel them; she could tell that much. Yet he wasn't really sorry or sad or embarrassed or whatever the emotion was.

He did somewhat understand the emotion and know it, yes, but the only _real_ thing he seemed to feel was happiness; the rest seemed to be just a feeble imitation of the real thing. But how was that even possible? Rima knew humans weren't like that. Humans were sensitive; they felt everything. There had to be something different about him, something that made it impossible for her to see his true personality.

Right now, it didn't even seem like he _had_ a true personality.

Or maybe there was something wrong with her "sight", and he actually felt everything. It might seem irrational to anyone else, maybe even Ikuto, but she _was_ scared of him.

And now everything was even worse. What was wrong with her? For some reason, now that she had to spend every day with him, she felt like she needed to find out what his real personality was. Why she couldn't see it. It was eating away at her, like a disease. But she couldn't exactly call him or anything, since she didn't know his…

Right. She was so stupid.

Picking up her phone, she dialed Ikuto's number, hoping Nagihiko would pick up._ "Hello? Ikuto Tsukiyomi speaking."_

"It's Rima. Rima Mashiro."

And Rima could "see" it just then, just like he was standing in front of her, surprise. Surprise, but not the same kind that was usually felt from others. It was weak, almost like the surprise someone would feel when seeing a book they'd read before in the library. Surprise so weak it was almost flat, like acknowledgement. Like, "Oh." She was an expert on emotions, and she knew acknowledgement was the ultimate weakest form of surprise. But it was still a form, in some respects.

Acknowledgement was the kind of surprise expected when a friend called, not when… well… someone never expected to call did. And he definitely had never expected her to call…

She realized that he'd spoken, but she'd missed it. "Um, could you repeat that?"

_"I said, is there anything you want?" _

"From now on, come to my house every Saturday and Sunday. I don't care what time, as long it's not too unreasonable," she replied.

_"Why?"_

"I'm going to teach you not to smile."

_"Don't… you already do that at lunch?"_

"We'll stop doing it at lunch."

_"Why?"_

"Well, I get bored on the weekends. There's absolutely nothing to do. And we won't risk anyone hearing us talk about the switching-bodies thing." Rima couldn't help but feel a bit proud of the last excuse. The truth was that she was terrible at thinking up excuses, because it wasn't an essential skill when it came to her life.

_"Oh… okay."_

"Bye." She hung up, feeling, for the first time in a long time, content. Maybe she could finally figure him out.

* * *

Amu had been thinking the whole thing over, but still couldn't really get her mind to grasp it. Her best friend had _switched bodies_ with someone, and it happened to be the least popular guy in the whole school. And now she was given the job of teaching him to act like Nagihiko – a job the former claimed was useless.

But Amu knew better; just because the fans didn't realize now didn't mean they would stay ignorant for long. Even the stupidest people had brains, and if Ikuto didn't act like Nagihiko, people would notice in time. Slowly but surely, they would get suspicious, and the whole school would eventually break out into chaos. It seemed like an exaggeration, but that was the power popular people had over others.

If Ikuto underestimated them just because they didn't think anything was off now, both of them would regret it later.

Then, she remembered how Rima had shouted in the cafeteria. If someone heard them talking about switching bodies as casually as they talked about shopping, what would happen to them? Would they just become less popular, or would they get put in mental hospitals? Or even worse, would people figure it out – the way "Nagihiko" was acting weird, the way Rima shouted, and now the talk about switching bodies? What if scientists came and carried Nagihiko and Ikuto off to do tests on them? It was unlikely, but still possible.

This was so stressful. Amu wished she could ask Nagihiko to act like Nadeshiko for her; even though she knew Nadeshiko didn't even exist, it helped in a way she couldn't explain. She closed her eyes, imagining Nadeshiko's sweet, soft voice. What would she do?

And suddenly, she found the solutions. _Tell Ikuto that he needs to worry more. Be careful about what you say in school. Simple, straight answers for all of them. _But if they couldn't say anything in school, how would she teach him how to act like Nagihiko?

_Arrange a time for you to teach him, of course! Like, on the weekend, where he has time. _Sometimes Amu was really glad Nagihiko had been forced to dress as a girl for dancing – even in her mind, Nadeshiko was a great help. (Though her life would be over if people found out she had an imaginary friend – because it _was_ kind of like that. Not that she talked out loud to empty air in public, of course.)

She got up, grabbed her cell phone from beside her pillow, and called Nagihiko's number. _"Hello?"_ Ikuto asked.

"Um… hi. It's Amu."

_"Yeah?"_

"I was just thinking… if someone hears us talking about switching bodies at lunch, we'd get in trouble, right? So… can you come over to my house every Saturday and Sunday, and we won't talk about it at lunch? I mean, until you switch back." The unspoken words hung in the air. _If you switch back. _

_"What if we just don't do this? The fans are stupid."_

"They… kind of… are, but they'll still find out if you –"

_"Fine."_

Amu blinked. "Huh?"

_"I said, fine. I'll come. What time?"_

"Um… it doesn't matter." She hadn't expected him to agree so easily.

_"Sure. Okay. Bye."_ He hung up, and Amu took a deep breath and let it out with a _whoosh_, millions of thoughts running through her head at once. She really wasn't sure how to deal with this new incident in her life.

She might even have been a bit scared, but of course she would never admit that to herself.

* * *

Yuu Nikaidou pushed his teenage brother-in-law's door open. "Hey, Kairi, are you done with your homework yet?"

"No!" the green-haired boy, Kairi, shouted, quickly closing his laptop, but Yuu had seen. Complex, immensely advanced diagrams, with a childish, hand-drawn picture of a yellow sun next to each one – obviously not for high school homework.

The man raised an eyebrow. "So you _are_ done. But really, you'd rather go off on that wild-goose chase for the specific properties of sunlight then help me find my missing parts? There's an advanced converting device I can't find that we might need. I'm just as essential to this project as you are, remember. If I don't agree to help you build the machine once you find the actual source, your plans may just as well go out the window."

In return, Kairi's bright blue eyes flashed with anger. "I believe I have a lead. You may not, but I am much more accomplished at science than you are. For you to even start making plans to build a machine, I will have to extensively study what exactly is causing Tsukiyomi's body to switch with others. If this turns out to be promising, and you take me away from it, _your_ plans may just as well go out the window."

They glared at each other for a while, neither one backing down. Finally, Yuu broke the silence. "Five minutes, little brother," he said coolly. "Five minutes. Then you help me look for the converting device." With that, he left.

Kairi gritted his teeth. He was never sure whether he should be glad or upset his sister had married this man. He was the most obnoxious idiot in Japan by far. Clumsy, too. This was probably the fiftieth time this month he'd needed help to find a mechanical tool.

Yet Kairi couldn't deny he needed him.

* * *

**I know this chapter was short, kind of filler, and didn't do much to help the story. The plot is moving more slowly than I would have liked; it's not because I don't have anything planned out, really, but it's because all the planned-out scenes happen _way_ later, and if I put those events here now, everything would be going way too fast. And I want to keep up the regular updates. So for now, I'm just kind of… buying my time with fillers, I guess.**

**So yes, Kairi and Yuu don't have the best relationship in the world, but they're cooperating (or at least trying to) to find the source of Ikuto and Nagihiko's (and Ikuto and Kukai's, twelve years before) switching. And you can probably guess who told them about it.**

**I have a feeling this time I really WILL mess up the preview.**

**I don't have much else to say, so bye, and please review!**

* * *

_Preview:_

_"Um, how will knowing Ikuto's favorite type of wood help me act like him?" Nagihiko finally asked, slightly impatient with all the questions thrown his way. _

_Rima studied him for a second, just to see if he was upset or sarcastic or anything, but he seemed not to care that much. She would have to do a better job of making him anything other than happy. "I have no idea. But it's good to have a backup, right?"_

_"Well…"_

_"Stop smiling!"_


	8. Habit

Rima sank to the floor, letting out a frustrated groan and wildly fighting the urge to swing a kitchen knife at the boy in front of her. (Because she'd never be able to find his real personality if she killed him. That reason only.)

Nagihiko Fujisaki _still_ had not learned… not to… no, she couldn't even think the word, or she would murder him right there.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I won't smile any –"

_Smile._

If only she actually had a kitchen knife… why couldn't she evoke those homicidal feelings in _him_?

"You've said the sentence 'I'm sorry, I won't smile anymore' approximately sixteen-point-eight-four-six-one-five-four times in the past five minutes. To be exact, sixteen-point-eight-four-six-one-five-three-and-repeat-the-eight-four-six-one-five-three-over-and-over-again. I forgot what the word was for that line on the top of digits after the decimal."

"Did you calculate the eight-four-six-one-five-three part beforehand or something?"

Actually, she had, but it wasn't like she was going to tell him. "Don't underestimate me, you pathetically popular, purple-painted pansy."

He laughed, which ticked her off even more. "Purple-painted?"

_Is he mocking me? Well, of course, but… _Confronted with an unexpected situation, she stammered out, "Stop smiling!" _Really? You couldn't have led him on a little?_

Nagihiko pulled on his most serious face (one that would probably last a minute at best). "Okay. Sorry. But why do you get so annoyed when I smile?"

And… the anger was back. Rima could feel the vein throbbing above her eye as she intoned dully, "Well, let's see… because every time I tell you to stop, you do so for ten seconds, then forget and smile again? No, it can't be that. There's absolutely _no reason_ I hate it when you smile. "

"I mean, why am I not allowed to smile?" he asked, unfazed by her obvious annoyance. "Is it just because Tsukiyomi doesn't, or because you just hate it when my face muscles move in a certain way?"

"Both. Whatever." Inspiration struck. "What type of wood does Ikuto prefer over all others?" she shot at him, resisting the tiny smirk that tugged on her lips. Wood. That had to be her best one yet (besides the suitcase-and-beaver one, of course).

"Um, how will knowing Ikuto's favorite type of wood help me act like him?" Nagihiko finally asked, slightly impatient with all the questions thrown his way.

Rima studied him for a second, just to see if he was upset or sarcastic or anything, but he seemed not to care that much. She would have to do a better job of making him anything other than happy. "I have no idea. But it's good to have a backup, right?"

"Well…"

"Stop smiling!"

"I'm sorry, I won't –"

"Obviously your mouth isn't, and you could at least try a different sentence. Enough of the favorites. What would Ikuto do if he saw an old man being beaten to death by a gang of ten people?" For a second, Rima herself thought about the answer; Ikuto had actually jumped in once when that had happened (and he'd only been fourteen), but he'd ended up in the hospital with a knife buried deep in his side. Would he risk that again if he had a choice?

_I can't believe I'm wondering about this,_ she thought. Helping Nagihiko get to know Ikuto, act like him, be able to answer every stupid question in the world about him, or anything else he might have in mind wasn't the point here. Why was she wasting her time thinking about her own weird questions? Her motive was supposed to be something else entirely.

"Um… maybe." _Ikuto doesn't really seem like the type to get into others' business, but then again, he isn't cruel, _Nagihiko thought.

"Correct."

"Huh?"

"Correct." At this point, Rima didn't even care anymore.

Her plan to make him show emotion was failing miserably – she hadn't really expected it to work with one "class", but really, she'd thought it would have _some_ impact. At the rate she was going, it would be decades before she found out what his real personality was.

"Oh… okay." And Rima saw mild confusion in his eyes (of course it always _had _to be mild), and she decided to intensify that. Anger was more what she had been hoping for, but at this point she would take absolutely anything.

She plastered an utterly somber expression on her face (which she was a thousand times better than Nagihiko at). "Food is good when you're starving." _Come on… think of something better than that…_

Nagihiko stared at her. "I know that."

"Okay, but did you know toothpaste cleans crayon off walls?"

"What?" _Yes, yes, yes, _Rima thought, watching the "mild" confusion slowly inch a bit closer to "normal" confusion. Just a bit, but it was enough to encourage her.

"Nope. Your hair's not purple. The world is un-purple."

"Rima-chan, what are you talking about?"

"Don't call me 'Rima-chan'!" Oops. She'd let annoyance get the better of her again. Rima fixed it with, "In the speech Olympics, silence isn't golden. It didn't even make it to the finals."

"Um… are you okay?"

Oh, no. The confusion had instantly evaporated, replaced by concern. Now she had to… "You're ugly," she replied, the first thing she could think of. _So not confusion, _she told herself sternly, but she still had to fight back the urge to laugh.

Silence. Nagihiko gawked at Rima, but other than a bare twitch of the eyebrow, she couldn't tell what he was feeling. _Why, oh why, are your emotions so undetectable?_

"I'm joking, Fujisaki." She gave up. Bringing out confusion was much too embarrassing. "What time is it?"

"It's twelve-thirty. Am I allowed to eat lunch here, or do I have to go home? Where are your parents, anyway?"

A nearly unnoticeable flinch. "They're out. You can go home for today. I'm sick of teaching you."

Again, it was a futile attempt – Nagihiko did not react to that sentence at all. "Sure." He headed for the door.

"Wait." She had to ask. If she wanted to find out now, that was her only option, and it wouldn't hurt, either.

"Yeah, Rima-chan?"

"Call me by my last name, and… why do you smile so much? Even when nothing's humorous or pleasing? Why do you act so happy even in the most normal situations?"

There was a pause.

"Why do you ask?"

"I'm curious. Tell me." Curious? More like going insane.

He looked back, and as he did, Rima was almost positive she caught something in his eyes, something being concealed. Like a mask the moment before it was fitted perfectly. The next moment, it was gone – if he had turned back a moment later, she wouldn't have seen. Her eyes widened.

Nagihiko smiled at her, but like all his other smiles, it was too gratified to be real. "I guess it's a habit." The same excuse he'd given her before. The same excuse he gave everyone who asked.

As soon as he left, Rima's innocent expression melted into an altogether different one, eyes narrowed in determination and lips pressed together. "You filthy little _liar_," she hissed. And she made a vow.

_Nagihiko Fujisaki, I'm going to find out what you're hiding…_

_No matter what it takes._

* * *

**Extremely short, not satisfying, not that good, blah blah blah. I know, I'm sorry, but I'm really, really stuck here. It's not that I'm losing inspiration or anything, but that, again, I don't know how fast to take things. I have pretty much every main story point planned out, but there's still the tiny bits of fluff that slows things down and makes the story more enjoyable. And I have no idea what to do with that. Don't worry, though, I'll still update as regularly as possible.**

**The next chapter is AMUTO! XD I've been totally neglecting the pairing lately, despite the promise I made in the first chapter. It's because Rimahiko is more interesting in this story, and that's because I like Rimahiko more. The only thing I can say is: sorry, and THE NEXT CHAPTER IS FULLY AMUTO, WITH NO RIMAHIKO INTERRUPTIONS. Yay.**

**Bye, and please review!**

* * *

_Preview:_

_Amu gave up. "What's with your attitude?"_

_"What attitude?" Ikuto asked, raising an eyebrow. _Well, that attitude, _Amu thought._

_"I mean, why do you act so unfriendly? I never did anything to you."_

_His next words hurt, no matter how much she tried to tell herself otherwise. "I'm not your friend. Why should I act like it?"_


	9. Liars

"So, Tsukiyomi-san, let's work on something else then…" She scribbled on a piece of paper. "How do you do this math problem?"

Ikuto stared at her in his usual blasé manner. "And how does this pertain to Fujisaki Nagihiko, exactly?"

"He's in a higher math class than you, and he gets straight A's!"

"I thought we were convincing the fans. Not the teachers."

"The teachers will get suspicious, too!" A futile, completely ignored glare was shot at him.

They were sitting, cross-legged, in her room. There were various random objects on the floor, which had either caused or were a result of (Ikuto couldn't tell which) Amu's extremely random, uninspiring teaching skills. The most entertaining moment (a.k.a. not entertaining at all) had been when she had given him a teddy bear and asked, "What would Nagihiko do if a fangirl gave him this?"

His answer had been, "He doesn't know, either. Besides, the fangirls are too scared to get anywhere near him." Amu had protested, but frankly, he thought he was right.

"Come on, just do the math problem?"

And this girl was terrible at persuasion, along with teaching. He picked up the pen, staring at the piece of paper. Fifteen tense seconds passed.

"I have no idea where to start."

"How can you not know? That was taught at the beginning of the year, and besides, you've gone to school in his place for a few days, right?"

"Hinamori, the thing about teachers is that they don't reteach things after months and months. At least in my experience."

Amu scowled. "All right, I'll teach you how to do it." But when she was done, he was staring at a butterfly outside a window.

"Tsukiyomi! How do you do this?" She wrote up another problem, trying to keep cool.

"I don't know."

"It's in the same format as the first one!"

"I wasn't paying attention. Why are you teaching me math, anyway?"

"I told you, because –"

"The whole point of this was so the student body wouldn't get suspicious, not the teachers, right? Doesn't the student body matter more?"

"Well, you never smile, so I gave up."

"So can I leave now?"

"No! Fine!" Amu couldn't believe she'd just told him she'd given up. What kind of a teacher was she? _A bad one, _she told herself miserably, saying, "Okay, we'll do the smile test. You're going to have to smile for… um… one full minute, lifting your cheeks and squinting your eyes as much as you can." She demonstrated. "No dropping your face muscles. I'll time you." She picked up a small timer, one of the random objects on the floor of her room.

"You do know that's going to make me smile even less, right?"

"Actually, you'll do it for two full minutes." Hey, she might as well take advantage of being the "teacher" here. "And I have a theory that the reason you don't smile at all is because your face muscles don't get enough exercise, so whenever you smile, it hurts. Which means you can't smile even if you want to, because you haven't done it enough in the past. So this will kind of exercise you a little bit, and slowly, as the weeks pass, your face will grow stronger, and you'll smile more easily!"

"What if I can't hold my face up for two minutes?"

"You'll start over."

"Can I leave now?"

"No! You can't leave until I'm satisfied!" She rushed towards the door, blocking it. He almost smiled.

Almost.

After the smile test, he could barely speak, let alone smile. He started to think the Smile Theory wasn't utter rubbish. Maybe. "Can I go now?" he asked, moving his lips as little as possible.

"No! Next is the Nadeshiko test!"

"The Nadeshiko test?"

"Yeah! You know Nagi's female alter ego he uses for dancing is Nadeshiko Fujisaki, right? Now, since you either can't or won't act like Nagi, you'll have to act like Nade. Because it's worse. Then you'll appreciate acting like Nagi." Amu rummaged in her closet, found what she wanted (a red kimono), and tossed it to him. "Here, this was a present from him for my birthday. It was too big for me, but it should fit him. Wear it."

"Now?"

"Yup." She turned around. "I won't look."

"It's not my body. I don't care if you look."

"I care!"

He got dressed, and as Amu heard him shuffling around, her face turned dark red. _Why'd he have to say that? Jerk…_

"What now?"

She turned around and pulled the ponytail band out of her hair. "Make a ponytail."

"I can't."

"Fine, Tsukiyomi. Keep it like that. Now speak in a high voice," she muttered, getting more annoyed by the second. Why, she didn't know. It was just an unenthusiastic guy. She'd handled more… right?

"No."

"I won't let you leave!"

"I don't care anymore."

Amu gave up. "What's with your attitude?"

"What attitude?" Ikuto asked, raising an eyebrow. _Well, that attitude,_ Amu thought.

"I mean, why do you act so unfriendly? I never did anything to you."

His next words hurt, no matter how much she tried to tell herself otherwise. "I'm not your friend. Why should I act like it?"

Her mouth dropped open. "Well, you could try!"

"You're saying I should be friends with you?"

He made her feel uncomfortable – in the weirdest way. "N-no…"

"So why should I act friendly?"

"W-what I'm saying is, you could try to act interested, at least!"

"But I'm not," he replied flatly. "Because your teaching is terrible."

"You could try to be civil!"

"Look, Hinamori," he sighed. "One thing I don't get is why people do things they don't want to do. If they don't want to be polite to someone, why do they do it? You were polite to me at the beginning, even when I ticked you off. Only later, when you couldn't stand it anymore, did you decide to stop being so nice. Why did you do that? Why didn't you just start yelling at me from the beginning, after my first, as you call it, 'uncivil' word? What you call uncivil is what I call being honest, which nobody is nowadays. People might think being polite is good, but really, it's a lie. To others and to themselves." It was the most he'd said all day.

In a stunned moment, Amu realized that he was right. Why _had_ she been so nice to him at the start, when there were no consequences for telling him how annoyed she was by him?

No, she couldn't let him get the best of her. In a rush, she blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "This is why nobody likes you except Mashiro."

Instantly, she knew she'd said something wrong. His eyes darkened. "You think the reason nobody likes me is because I don't bother to make friends with anyone?" he said quietly. "No, it's because people think I'm weird for doing what I want. For being so silent all the time. For sleeping against my locker before the bell rings. They think I'm a loner. Well, tell me. What is a loner, exactly?"

She stayed frozen, not knowing what to say.

"A loner is someone who can't make friends. A loner is someone who's an outcast. And this high school thinks they've made me an outcast, but they haven't cast me out of anything. I'm willingly not participating, not joining in their happy little gossip. Because I don't care about it. And if I cared even a bit about what people thought of me, I'd probably try to act cool. Like you do. You're probably the biggest liar of all, with multiple façades, and your true self being buried beneath them. If you acted like yourself, you'd also be an outcast."

Amu ignored the insults, having found the one flaw in all his talk. "And Mashiro agrees with you? One moment, she's acting all cold and know-it-all, and next, she's screaming at Nagihiko. Which one is the real her? You sure are a hypocrite, huh?" There was one thing that she agreed with: she wasn't going to try to be civil to him anymore. Ever.

He narrowed his eyes marginally. "I'm leaving." He pulled off the kimono (which, as it turned out, he'd actually put on over his normal clothes) and left.

She didn't stop him.

* * *

**Amuto, if you call an argument Amuto. Don't worry, they'll make up on Sunday… but after Rima and Nagi's Sunday, which is next chapter. So you'll have to wait two chapters. I'M SORRY. I know my updates are slow. :(**

**Anyway, there's not just one flaw in his "talk"… there are about fifty million. I left them there on purpose, to kind of show that his "attitude" isn't sincere; there's something else about it. But seriously, can you find the loopholes? If you do, you'll get… um… a shout-out. In the next chapter. Yeah. People are enthusiastic about that… right?**

**But next chapter, Rima and Nagi are going to have a fight as big (if not way bigger) as the Amuto one. I swear I'm obsessed with fights, because I think that they bring two people together after the apology – if there is one, of course.**

**Bye, and please review!**

* * *

_Preview:_

_She was enjoying herself. Finally, she was making progress, and it felt amazing. Just one more little push, and he'd be… "You're pathetic. I seriously don't believe it's just a habit, you know? You're either doing this on purpose, or you had surgery when you were little."_

_There was a silence as he bit his lip, smile completely gone. The rush of triumph she felt was short-lived; she had to plan out her next sentences as carefully as possible in the few milliseconds she had. If one thing went wrong, it wouldn't work, and she'd lose all this. "That's it; I can't teach you anymore. Just go home, okay? I'm going to spend my time doing more productive things."_

_It happened. She could feel it in the air._

_He snapped._


	10. Hatred

**Warning: _Nagihiko WILL be OOC. This is a FACT._ But he's always OOC, so the more accurate term would be "more OOC than usual". This is not because I _couldn't _make him IC, it's that I didn't _want_ to. Why? Because I'm sick of how nice Nagihiko is, and this is my fanfiction, so I technically get to do whatever I want as long as it's within the guidelines. Sorry, people out there who have a huge crush on Nagi, but I speak the truth… so if you don't want to see a… um… different side of him, don't read this, because when you complain, I'll just say, "Hey, I warned you."**

**Now EVERYONE will read this. Am I correct? LOL. But it's true, Nagi is OOC. And now that I consider it, Rima is OOC too…**

**Also, this chapter sucks. I actually kind of have an excuse for this: it's because I had no idea how to build up to the "fight" I mentioned in the preview. I mean, you can't just make Nagi happy one moment and mad the next, right? So I had to make Rima slowly provoke him into snapping, and that was _hard_. I was tearing my hair out over it until I realized if I did so any more, not only would I be bald, I would also leave this story _and_ Vanished (because I'm too stubborn to stop alternating the updates, even in a situation like this, and if you haven't read Vanished, then go read it, and yes, self-advertising actually _does_ work, which is what I learned when I self-advertised in the thirteenth chapter of Secrets *coughcoughspeakingofwhichyou shouldalsogoreadthatstorytoo coughcough*) hanging for five years over this one trivial scene. So I just forced myself to write it as fast as possible, which is why it sucks. Especially the fight scene. Sorry.**

**Wait, that's not an excuse. Whatever.**

* * *

The sound of Nagihiko's footsteps seemed to magnify with each step as he walked down the street towards Rima's house on Sunday. First checking around to see if anyone he knew was there, he allowed himself a well-deserved scowl. He didn't want to spend part of the day at Rima's house attempting to rip apart the effortless mask he had perfected after all those years, but ironic as it was, it was necessary in order to preserve that mask. "I don't want to do this," he whispered under his breath – quite daringly, he thought.

It was childish, and he knew he should be used to doing things he didn't want to do. Still, was it really his fault?

_Yes. It is. It's your fault for –_

It was so easy to shut the voice in his head up, it was almost pathetic. (He wasn't supposed to think such things, but one thing nobody could control was what he thought.)

You're_ the one that's pathetic._ Okay, now he'd _really_ shut the voice up.

Nagihiko let out a little sigh, and, covering his face with an easy smile, rang the doorbell of Rima's house. She answered. "Come in," she muttered dully. Was it his imagination, or did she seem to be more annoyed than last time?

As soon as he went in, she slammed the door so hard he jumped. Nope, it wasn't just his imagination.

This was further confirmed when she led him to her room, slammed the door _again_, and snapped the most random question possible, "What's your phone number?"

"Huh? Do you mean Ikuto's, or –"

"I _know_ Ikuto's number; that's how I called you, isn't it? I'm talking the number of your phone, which Ikuto has. You're driving me crazy. I need to talk to him."

He told her, not bothering to say that by "Ikuto's" he had meant the number she was talking about.

"Great," she replied dismissively, taking out her own phone and dialing it.

"Wait, shouldn't you be helping –"

"Not now. Get out. I'll let you in again when I'm done talking." And she pushed him out the door and slammed the door in his face _again_, instantly dispelling any shred of a doubt about her being annoyed.

He decided not to eavesdrop, thinking that it probably wouldn't be interesting anyway. After about a minute or so, Rima let him in again (without slamming the door, something he already considered a miracle). Looking considerably happier, she informed him, "I'm not the only one suffering right now. Your friend Hinamori is too – and believe it or not, Ikuto might be giving her a harder time than you're giving me."

"What?"

"She got the same idea as I did. The Saturday-and-Sunday one. Now Ikuto's _torturing _her, and apparently her sister is helping him." She looked like she was going to burst from glee.

Nagihiko frowned. "Why are you looking so happy?"

Rima shrugged. "Because she's a fraud."

"Hey –" Then, he stopped himself. "Can I talk to Amu?"

"Do whatever you want; I'm going to go eat something. I'd like to preserve my good mood for as long as possible, anyway, before I start 'teaching' you." She handed him the phone and left, shutting the door gently behind her. Nagihiko let out an involuntary sigh of relief and dialed the number again.

"Yeah?"

"It's me. Nagihiko. Can I talk to Amu?"

"A bit too late for that, aren't you? Her sister and I already slit her wrists and tied her to the roof."

"_What_?"

"I'm joking. I'll toss the phone to her and hope she doesn't catch me. Not that she could, you know, considering how heavy she is. I nearly went into a coma. Hey, Amu! For you!" Okay, he didn't even want to know what _that_ was all about.

A few seconds later, his eardrums were at the mercy of Amu. "Don't call me Amu, you rotten brat! Oh, hi, Nagi. Anyway, I am _never_ going to teach that lousy little _sneak_ again, especially not on a Sunday, where he apparently gets massive mood swings! He deserves to be _dead_, along with my dear, loyal little sister!"

"What happened?"

"Oh, thousands of things. Like maybe my sister throwing a water balloon filled with _paint _as in genuine _paint_ at my _face_, and then him all of a sudden laughing when a few seconds before he'd been his normal boring deadpan self, and my sister getting excited that someone actually approved and then a few minutes later deciding to – OH, THAT IS _IT_! TSUKIYOMI IKUTO, YOU ARE GOING DOWN!"

Nagihiko could hear Ikuto's faint laughter in the background – something he'd only heard once before, and something that equally creeped him out the second time because... well, it was in Nagihiko's voice, and yet sounded so natural, and Nagihiko hadn't really _laughed_ in years, both in his body and in Ikuto's.

Then, he heard the phone clattering to the ground as Ami, Amu's sister, shouted in a voice so faint he could barely hear it, "You'll have to get through me first! And I thought you said his name was Nagihiko Fujisaki!" He hung up, laughing himself and unable to help thinking that this might be good for her in a way, Ikuto testing her evidently exhausted patience.

Rima barged into the room, letting out a jumbled mix of words in a single breath, without stopping. "I was listening but I swear I didn't even have to try and listen since I could hear every word of what she was saying through the door and that was hilarious and anyway I've finally gotten inspiration of what to do for today to teach you how to act like Ikuto even though that's hopeless but whatever and to do it just imagine I'm Amu and you're Ikuto and pretend I'm teaching you and this is Amu's room and it's Sunday which is today but whatever and pretend I'm teaching you although I already said that and I'm going to act like a bumbling Amu which is really easy considering that conversation and –"

Nagihiko thought it common courtesy to prevent her from dying of lack of air. "Wait, slow down. What are you talking about?"

She took a deep breath. "Okay, pretend I'm Amu and you're Ikuto, and we're in Amu's room right now, and I'm teaching you. Respond like Ikuto to everything I say or do. Get it?"

"Okay, I… guess, but how am I supposed to act like Ikuto when you've barely taught me anything about him, besides what his favorite color and animal and type of wood and preference of day to find a beaver in his suitcase are?"

Oddly, Rima didn't even seem offended – satisfied would be the better word. "You improvise. That's the point. Not every situation at school that comes up is going to be planned out, you know. There's going to be some shockers, and you'll have to respond accordingly, otherwise people will get suspicious."

"Um…" And suddenly, he felt it. The weird thing he'd felt yesterday, when he'd left, when he'd smiled at her and told her it was a habit. This time, he found the source; she was watching him. Not normal watching,_glaring_, almost. But not in an unfriendly way, more like she was trying to guess his exact eye color – no, like she was trying to develop X-ray vision and was practicing on him. He shifted slightly, and as he did, he could almost see the gears turning behind those wide, staring eyes.

"Don't smile. I know you were going to smile."

"Huh?"

"Are you hard of hearing? I said, don't smile. I know you were going to smile."

Nagihiko said the first thing that came to mind. "You aren't acting like Amu."

"I don't want to act like Hinamori until you act like Ikuto. It's more annoying to act like Hinamori, since she's a phony."

"She's not a phony."

_He's getting less happy, _Rima noted, and decided to continue in the direction she was going. "Yes, she is. You can't deny that."

"Well, she's just –" His eyes widened as he realized that he'd nearly spilled her secret. "It's not her fault," he amended quickly, hoping she didn't notice.

She noticed. "Oh, really? Some traumatic past, then? Tortured? Raped? Family member killed?"

"No!"

"Well, I suppose if she had a best friend, it _would_ be you of all people. Your smile doesn't really go with her poker face, but you're both the same – her with that glare and you with that grin." She was enjoying herself. Finally, she was making progress, and it felt amazing. Just one more little push, and he'd be… "You're pathetic. I seriously don't believe it's just a habit, you know? You're either doing this on purpose, or you had surgery when you were little."

There was a silence as he bit his lip, smile completely gone. The rush of triumph she felt was short-lived; she had to plan out her next sentences as carefully as possible in the few milliseconds she had. If one thing went wrong, it wouldn't work, and she'd lose all this. "That's it; I can't teach you anymore. Just go home, okay? I'm going to spend my time doing more productive things."

It happened. She could feel it in the air.

He snapped.

There was no physical change, Rima observed interestedly. It was really that the cold fury emanating from him was so palpable even someone oblivious, like Amu, _had_ to notice. She waited for his reaction, which could be anything, as he was looking down, his face out of sight. She couldn't see what expression he was making. After what seemed like an hour of silence, the reaction came.

"I hate you." It was uttered quietly, with no emotion whatsoever.

Outside, her facial expression didn't change. Inside, she nearly laughed. So this was the reaction?

_I hate you. _Childish. Something a seven-year-old would say. "Then hate me." She turned away and walked out of the room, feeling a mixture of satisfaction and disappointment; satisfaction because she'd finally penetrated through that mask, if for a second; disappointment because it wasn't as… well… gratifying as she had thought it would be. It would have been better if he'd raged at her, shouted, preferably thrown things. Thinking about it, though, that was probably more childish than what he'd done.

She walked into the bathroom, locking the door and thinking that it would still have been satisfying. But this was enough.

When she returned to her room, he was gone.

* * *

**UGH. So not the kind-of-cool, kind-of-melodramatic scene I was imagining. Instead, it turned into a Nagihiko-is-throwing-an-I-hate-you-Mommy-because-you-forgot-to-cut-the-crusts-off-my-sandwich-tantrum-and-Rima-is-like-whatever scene. UGH. I will not talk about the chapter anymore. It's just going to put me in a bad mood.  
**

**Okay, I admit this is kind of related to the chapter, but not to how bad it was, so it's alright. So you know how I made Nagi call Amu, and made her rant about Ikuto? That was to make you guys anticipate the next chapter, and hopefully distract you from the quality of this one. Yes, Ikuto will drive Amu crazy, and you'll have to wait for the next update to see how, even though you probably would have dropped the story otherwise. See, I have dirty tricks too :P**

**Self-advertising (because as I said before, it works, it really does): I'm going to publish a one-shot on October 15th called "Fanfiction Torture", and it's going to be FFn's birthday present. Yes, this website's birthday is on October 15th. (It might be the fourteenth or the sixteenth, for those of you who don't live in the U.S. I've totally abandoned trying to figure out the time difference between the U.S. and other places.) I can't tell you what it's about yet, but let me just say that it's Rimahiko, and that I'll be at my worst in the story. And by that, I mean I'll rant, using both Rima and the narrator (technically myself, but whatever) to do it. And there will be mentions of Amu and Ikuto, too, don't worry.**

**Okay, that was really vague. Whatever. So is the preview.**

**Bye, and please review!**

* * *

_Preview:_

_Amu suddenly stopped, eyes wide, as they neared her room. Ikuto moved forward to open it, but she grabbed his arm. "Wait!" she shouted._

_He turned to look at her. "What?"_

_She was staring at the door, obviously uneasy. "It's closed."_

Of course it's closed._ "So?"_

_She took a deep breath. "Okay, on the count of three, open it, and duck. Immediately duck, or you're going to regret it."_

_"Can you explain what's going on?"_

_"No, not yet." She scurried a good ten feet away from him, and called, "One… two… three!"_

_He opened the door, and ducked as something hurtled over his head._


	11. Enter Ami Hinamori

**To someone I know: Thanks a lot for telling me about that totally boring dream you had where I went to your afterschool or whatever and started blabbing about Shugo Chara. Now I have the stupidest chapter beginning ever, and I can't let it go because it's pushed all other possibly mediocre beginnings from my mind. -_-**

**I know I've been bashing myself a lot lately, but this chapter is _bad_. As in, wait-what-the-heck-have-I-been-writing-I'm-so-ashamed-to-publish-this-now-but-I-will-anyway-because-I-can't-think-of-how-to-fix-it bad. Ugh.**

**Also, I don't want any confused anonymous idiot (no offense) reviewing with, "Huh? Wait, wasn't this the same conversation as the last chapter?" after reading about the phone call to Nagihiko and Rima. (Believe it or not, there _are_ idiots like this on the website.) This chapter occurs on a Sunday. The chapter before this one (the Rimahiko one) occurred on the same day. While Amu is getting ticked off by Ikuto, Rima is finally succeeding in making Nagihiko ticked off, and seeing a little bit of his true personality. Hope that clears things up.**

**Of course, there are people who don't read author's notes because they don't deem it worth their time, and it's mostly those same idiots, so I guess that was a waste of time.**

* * *

Amu was literally shocked – well, the more accurate term would be literally _stunned_. No, that wasn't right. Both words worked perfectly well.

This certainly was the height of awkward dreams. A five-year-old girl she vaguely recognized as a much younger version of her little sister, Ami, was waving a pretty pink wand – one crackling with electricity – around, zapping her every ten seconds. Nearby, Nagihiko (well, she perceived him as Ikuto-in-Nagihiko's-body in the dream) was dressed as a clown, but he wasn't making anyone laugh. He couldn't have. He was laughing too hard himself. During those ten seconds that Ami wasn't zapping Amu, she was looking eagerly at Ikuto to see if she approved. "Iku-senpai! Are you proud of me?" And he'd manage to gather enough energy (which had mostly been drained from laughing so much) to nod. As for Amu, it felt like all _her_ energy had been drained, leaving her too weak to fight back.

When she woke up on Sunday morning, screaming for mercy (in her defense, it had begun to rain, and Ami had dragged her outside and harnessed the power of lighting with the wand, which had turned into a scary-looking blue staff), she dismissed it as another crazy dream of hers, but she should have known it was a premonition.

Ikuto actually came that day. Now, they were standing near the doorway, trying their best to break one of the most uncomfortable silences in history.

"I'm sorry."

Amu blinked a few times, coming back to the present. "Huh?"

"Don't make me say it again."

"What are you sorry for?"

He sighed. "Do you have short-term memory loss?"

She twitched slightly, but it helped her understand. "You mean yesterday? Why are you sorry? It was kind of my fault." _And you didn't seem sorry at all yesterday_, she thought, but said nothing.

"Because I don't hate you," he replied. "Whatever. Let's go." And he headed towards her room.

She just stared. _What's up with him?_

Amu suddenly stopped, eyes wide, as they neared her room. Ikuto moved forward to open it, but she grabbed his arm. "Wait!" she shouted.

He turned to look at her. "What?"

She was staring at the door, obviously uneasy. "It's closed."

_Of course it's closed. _"So?"

She took a deep breath. "Okay, on the count of three, open it, and duck. Immediately duck, or you're going to regret it."

"Can you explain what's going on?"

"No, not yet." She scurried a good ten feet away from him, and called, "One… two… three!"

He opened the door, and ducked as something hurtled over his head.

The water balloon exploded on the opposite wall, and a few water droplets landed on Ikuto's arm. Rubbing it and turning, he looked down (way down) and met wide, honey-colored eyes. Eyes like Amu's.

He had to blink, wondering why Amu was so short now, before realizing that they belonged to someone else entirely. Pushing her two golden-brown pigtails behind her shoulders, the young girl's eyes flashed with recognition, and then shock, before they turned vague and questioning. "Who are you?"

He'd learned enough from Rima to know that she knew exactly who he was (or who Nagihiko was), but as he was about to say so, Amu replied for him. "Nagihiko Fujisaki."

The girl turned to her. "Okay. Whatever. But seriously, you got someone to open the door _for_ you? Are you that much of a coward?"

"That was too obvious, Ami. I never close my door, ever. And besides, it's not being cowardly, it's being sensible. He has better reflexes than I do, so it's almost guaranteed he wouldn't get hit."

"Sounds like you're just making excuses."

"Where are our parents?"

"Now you're just trying to change the subject. You know where they are. They're out having a party with the family of some girl from France. Lulu de Morcerf Yamamoto or something like that. You have to remember. I mean, my mom pretty much told you that if something happened to me, she'd kill you herself. But the point is, you're _totally_ making excuses, because you're a coward and don't want to admit it."

Amu sighed loudly. "What do you even want?" Turning to Ikuto, she added, "This is my sister, Ami. She's a total pain."

"Yeah?" Suddenly, Ikuto noticed that she was holding a fat, suspiciously _green_ balloon in her left hand, which had previously been hidden behind her back. "Get down, Fujisaki!" And she threw it.

He ducked for the second time. It hit Amu straight in the face and burst – and it wasn't filled with water this time, it was filled with… paint. Green paint that now trickled down Amu's neck and soaked her clothes. Her mouth dropped open, and she sputtered for a few seconds before shrieking, "Ami!"

But Ami had already reached her room across the hallway. Leaning against the doorway and standing in front of the open door, she giggled. "Come and get me."

Amu ran for it.

Ami moved behind the door and slammed it right when Amu's outstretched arm was practically an inch from her body.

Ikuto burst out laughing.

Why, he didn't know. It wasn't even that funny, but Amu's demeanor had changed so fast, from confused to scared to angry, and the way that tiny girl, Ami, had shouted "get down" like his life depended on it, and the way she seemed to have _masterminded_ this whole thing so Amu would get hit by the paint-filled balloon instead of the water-filled one, added to the fact that she seemed to have an amazing talent for teasing her pink-haired older sister… it was strangely hilarious to him.

Amu didn't agree. "Stop laughing, Tsukiyomi!"

He stopped, but the laughter was still evident on his face. "You should go clean up."

Numerous sharp glares were thrown at him, none of which were effective. "Yes, I think I will, and if I find out you've been planning something with Ami, you're dead."

"Thanks for the idea."

She let out a furious snarl and stalked off towards the bathroom. As soon as she did, Ami peeked out of her room. "She's gone, right?"

"Yeah. How old are you, anyway?"

From what little of her he could see, he assumed she frowned. "Are you some sort of pedophile who hits on little girls?"

"No."

"Twelve."

She opened the door a bit more. "No wonder you're short," he commented.

"Uh-huh. You'd better not treat me like a little kid, though. This whole world is age-ist nowadays, and I'm at the age where people treat me like a baby and expect me to act like an adult."

Ikuto couldn't help grinning at her. "That made absolutely no sense. You remind me of Utau when she was little."

"Who's Utau?"

He stopped himself. How had he been so careless? "Oh, just my friend's little sister."

"Interesting. There's a pop star called Utau Hoshina that I kinda like, and not many people name their children that, so I got confused for a second." Her voice was light, but there was a strangely excited undertone to it as she said, "Hey, do you want to play another trick on Amu?"

"Why?"

"It's fun." When Ikuto didn't reply, she added, "Besides, she's always so snobby and cold all the time. I remember when we were both in elementary school, I would always hear rumors about my sister, and I was always looked up to just because of that. It was so annoying, and it gets even more frustrating when she acts that way towards my parents, and they do nothing but marvel at how they have such an amazingly cool daughter. I actually used to be like that too, but that's not related. Anyway, her getting mad breaks the tedium, don't you think? And it's kind of good for her."

Up went his eyebrows. "You're doing this for your sister's sake?"

"I'm not a saint. I do it 'cause it's fun. But I'm just saying that it helps her too, in a weird way. You in?"

"Will it be worth my time?"

"Guess it depends on how you usually spend your time."

He thought about it. "Fair enough. I'm in."

* * *

Amu returned, wearing fresh, clean clothes and having not a spot of paint on her. "Took you long enough," the boy sitting on her bed commented. "Are we going to start with our lessons now?"

"Yeah. Right. Well, since I can't think of anything to teach you, I'll just give you some math problems to do, while I go see if I can get revenge on Ami."

Well, that had been _easy_. His job had been to lure Amu to Ami's room, and it had worked already. "Okay, then. Just don't expect any of those problems to actually be done."

"Shut up." She gave him a math workbook. "Do page ninety-seven."

Ami did have a point. Making Amu mad _had_ to be better than these lessons. When Amu was out of sight, Ikuto left the room, snuck down the stairs, and exited the house.

* * *

Amu burst into Ami's room. "Okay, Ami, I'm –"

She stopped, eyes widening. Ami was sitting on her bed, crying. Amu ran over to her. "Hey, Ami," she said softly. "What's wrong."

Ami looked away. "It's stupid."

"No, tell. I won't laugh or anything."

"My best friend gave me a friendship bracelet, and while you were gone, I decided to hide up in the attic because I knew you were going to get revenge on me later, and I happened to be wearing it. But it was stuffy, so I opened that huge window thing that goes to the roof, remember? But somehow it flew off my wrist and landed on the roof, and now I'm too scared to get it. Please, can you get it for me?"

Amu considered. On one hand, this could be her revenge – leave Ami crying here while she sauntered back to her room to scold Ikuto for not doing any math problems. On the other hand, Ami _was_ her sister, even if she was also an annoying little pest…

"Alright," she sighed.

Ami instantly brightened. "Yay! Come on!"

They went up to the attic, and Amu opened the huge window. Carefully, she hoisted herself up onto the roof. Seeing nothing, she called, "Are you sure the bracelet is here?"

"Yeah!"

Her eyes widened. "Oh, here it is!" She picked it up…

And turned around to see Ami pushing her off the roof.

Whenever Amu thought she was going to get seriously injured, her thoughts always raced, like time was slowing down along with her body, and her brain was the only thing unaffected. _It's not a very long fall, so the worst that will happen is a broken arm or leg, maybe… but why did Ami push me?_

"Catch her, Tsukiyomi-san!"

Ikuto caught her. Immediately, she pushed herself off him and rolled onto the ground, unhurt. "What was that for?" she shouted at Ami.

Ami smiled, usual mischievous demeanor back. "I'm not scared to go onto the roof, and that bracelet was one I made back in kindergarten. It was a trick. You underestimate me. Thanks, Tsukiyomi-san." And she climbed back into the attic.

Amu stood up and turned to Ikuto. "You _helped_ her?"

"Yup. The whole thing was a trick to make you scared for half a second, as you fell. I have to admit, though, your sister's good. I never thought you'd be out onto the roof so fast." Then, seeming to read her mind, he added, "I know you seriously want to murder us both right now, but you'll have to catch me first. Your sister will protect me, too. She's grown fond of me. Hopefully."

And he ran. Amu shrieked in fury and raced to catch up with him.

The chase was on.

* * *

"Hey, Rima," Amu heard Ikuto speak into his (Nagihiko's) cell phone as they raced down the impossibly long hallway for the ninth time. "Really? Cool, Hinamori back there got the exact same idea as you… Yeah…" His voice grew fainter as the gap between them grew wider. "Tricked her… roof… really easy… chasing… and she's already panting." His voice suddenly grew loud on the last few words. "She must be even fatter than she looks."

The gap began to close.

* * *

"Yeah?" Ikuto said into the phone as they raced down the stairs and into the living room. Rima had called him again… or maybe not.

"It's me. Nagihiko. Can I talk to Amu?"

Rima had probably told him. "A bit too late for that, aren't you? Her sister and I already slit her wrists and tied her to the roof."

"_What_?"

"I'm joking. I'll toss the phone to her and hope she doesn't catch me. Not that she could, you know, considering how heavy she is. I nearly went into a coma. Hey, Amu! For you!" He threw the phone to her. It nearly hit her in the face, but she managed to catch it.

Ikuto took this chance to run faster, so the only thing he heard before he left the room was, "Don't call me Amu, you rotten brat!" She had stopped completely.

Trying and failing to force down a smirk, he quickly went through some other rooms and snuck up behind her. She was ranting into the phone. "…someone actually approved and then a few minutes later deciding to –"

He covered her eyes with one hand, causing her to immediately go into a rage. "OH, THAT IS _IT_! TSUKIYOMI IKUTO, YOU ARE GOING DOWN!"

Ikuto laughed, running away again, and Amu dropped the phone. She was about to chase after him when Ami, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, threw herself in front of her older sister. "You'll have to get through me first! And I thought you said his name was Nagihiko Fujisaki!"

"Ami, you're going to let me murder you?"

"At the cost of your own life, yes. Remember what our mom said? You can't harm me. And you can't harm him either, because if you do, I'll tell her you tortured me."

"Mom knows I would never torture you."

"Oh, really? Just because you were bullied once doesn't mean you won't bully others, and she knows –"

"Ami."

Her voice had grown quiet. No, not quiet, more… _muted_, reminding Ikuto of the effect caused by the middle pedal on a piano – like she wanted to speak at a normal volume, but something was stopping her.

He had no idea what was going on, and for some reason, he couldn't interpret it. It seemed like his brain was too preoccupied with dwelling on what Ami had said.

_She was bullied?_

Ami had changed. A second before, she had been triumphant, but now, she looked like she was about to cry. "Sorry, Amu…"

"It's okay." But her voice was still somehow muted, like she'd retreated into herself. Her body was stiff as she left the room.

The chestnut-haired girl seemed to flinch as she realized Ikuto was still there. "You're probably going to ask."

"You sound like you want to tell me."

"Not you. _Somebody_. I'm sick of this. Just leave if you don't want to hear any more." And she began talking, babbling, lips moving so fast he could barely make out her voice. "It's always like this. I always know exactly what I'm saying when I push her over the edge. I know I'm going to do it. I know she's going to act like that, and I always think I'm prepared, but when she actually does, I feel sick, like I don't deserve to be her sister. You heard her voice. Like she's entered some other world. I can barely even hear her. It's like… it's like… like last time." There was a small pause. "She went into a coma."

Ami looked up at Ikuto to see his reaction, but he wouldn't meet her eyes. "Continue. I'm listening."

"She went into a coma from the stress. From the bullying. I was only three, and she was eight. I don't even remember anything about it, except that she used to come home crying. And then, one day, my parents told me something was wrong with my sister, and she was at the hospital, and they were going to stay there for a few days. They hired another family to take care of me. And now, whenever anyone mentions it, she becomes like that. I… I make it a game to see how far I can push into dangerous territory, before she starts acting like that again. I'm a terrible sister, I know it, but whenever I look at Amu, I don't see her. I see a protective shell. That's why she's popular. It's not really her. The only times I can break that shell is when I get her mad."

"So it _was_ for your sister's sake."

"Yeah. But it doesn't change the fact that I'm a terrible sister. I wish I could just stop the stupid pranks. Pushing her off the roof isn't my idea of fun. It's my idea of getting her to stop acting how she does already."

Ikuto shrugged. "Then you aren't a terrible sister. You're doing what you can."

"It doesn't matter. I've told you what I think, and that's enough." She was instantly defensive again. "Now _you_ tell _me_ a secret. Who are you really?"

He blinked, caught off guard. "Didn't Amu tell you? I'm –"

"Amu thinks I don't know anything. She thinks that just because I'm twelve, I'm retarded. I've been watching her. Ever since she went into the coma and became like that, Nagihiko Fujisaki has been her only friend, and the only person she's talked to about what happened to her. He knows me, too. He's talked to me about it. Amu just thinks I've never met him before. And plus, when she was mad, she called you 'Ikuto'. You're not him."

"Fine, I'm not him. My name is Ikuto Tsukiyomi."

"Why are you pretending to be Nagihiko, and how do you look so much like him?"

"You won't believe me."

"Try it."

So he told her.

Ami blinked at him for a few seconds, then looked away. "You should go now," she said quietly. "Amu will come back, and she gets really crabby after she's snapped out of her daze. You know how her voice sounds…" She trailed off.

Ikuto nodded, having expected her to think he was a liar. "Okay."

He left the Hinamori residence, his mind buzzing.

* * *

**The quality of my chapters has been slowly decreasing, while the quantity has been slowly increasing… translation: my chapters suck more badly than before, but are way longer (3000 words, when they used to be 1000).**

******Hey, but at least the plot is moving, I guess. Ikuto has found out about that secret of Amu's I sort of mentioned in the last chapter, and from her own little sister. Speaking of Ami, I actually have a couple of excuses for her being OOC to the point where I have basically kidnapped her and put another person in her place. When she was shown in SC, she was basically just a cute little girl with almost no personality whatsoever. You can't really judge from what she acted like before what she'll be like when she's Amu's age. Though it's highly unlikely, she actually could become like that. The point is, you can't guess what she'll be like at age twelve from the series alone, and it's possible she would become like that from what happened to Amu. But I'll stop the excuses now.**

**I can't think of anything else, so… bye, and please review!**

* * *

_Preview:_

_She whirled around to face him. "You'd better not tell."_

_He nodded lazily. "Uh-huh."_

_There was a panicked feeling rising in her chest, and it took every bit of her self-control not to topple over. "I'm serious. If you do, I'll make sure every single one of my fans gang up on you and tear you to pieces. And you'll be bullied worse…" Amu hesitated. "Worse than I was."_

_Ikuto laughed. "It's not like you ever gave your fans the time of day. Admit it, Hinamori, you're scared of what I'll do. You can do whatever you like, but affecting me isn't within your power."_


	12. Hypocritical Façades

It was amazing. He was getting _used_ to awkward silences. In fact, he wished he wasn't the one that had to break the quiet, because it was going to be utter torture if she looked at him, criticized him some more, and resumed eating her lunch like absolutely nothing had happened.

But it was now or never. "Hey, Rima-chan?" Nagihiko asked hesitantly.

"What?"

"I'm sorry. For yesterday."

There was a short pause, before Rima replied, a hint of surprise in her voice, "You're not using the façade."

"What are you talking about?"

"Duh. You know, when you give me that puppy-dog look and _smile_ and there's nothing in your eyes but pure happiness. When you apologize and _smile_ and there's no actual regret in your eyes, just the stupid mild form plus some more happiness. When you're surrounded by fangirls who strangle each other every day just to talk to you. When you're in class. When you come to my house. To sum it up, the façade you use every single second of the day, besides now. What happened to that?"

"I… still don't know what you're talking about."

She scoffed, though inside, she was rejoicing at the breakthrough. _I can see everything now, in his eyes, like I would any other person. It's amazing_. "Please. You have to. Don't you ever feel suppressed around other people? For instance, the fans. Don't you ever want to knock some sense into them, ask them why the hell they're so into you anyway, why they would break up with their best friends, skip class, start petty rivalries, et cetera, just to gain some measly chance of being with you? No offense, but you're not even that great. And don't you ever get this suffocating feeling, like you don't understand anything or anyone, and the world in general is insane, and you feel like you're living amongst a different species and you want to find someone who actually understands you?"

Nagihiko stared at her. "How… do you know about that?"

Rima smiled, but there was no real mirth. "Call me an expert. Now answer my question."

"You basically mean when I smile, right?"

"Yes. Glad we're finally on the same page."

"Well, I wasn't really lying before," he began carefully. "It is a habit, but it's not just that. I have to…" He stopped. "I've had to do something that I don't want to do from a really young age. I used to complain, but then I realized that I'd have to do it anyway, so why not be happy about it? So I started smiling. And soon, I started using that supposed 'happiness' as a façade all the time, not just when I d – not just when I had to do _that_. And I thought I was getting better at being happy, but I was just getting better at masking my real emotions. When I met Amu, I realized that I wasn't happy, but pretending to be happy, and it was better not to pretend. But by then, it was already… a habit, with people I don't know. Now I don't even know when I'm using it. I guess I don't use it anymore with you because I already got mad, so there's no point in trying to convince you I can only feel happiness." He didn't mention that it was the same with Amu, except that their outer characters were completely different. That was why they were friends, and why he could trust her.

He thought she would ask him to explain more, but she just nodded. "I see." Then she smiled – a real one this time, not one that resembled (to him) a reporter seeking out information. "Okay, no more weekend classes."

He blinked, caught off guard. "Why?"

"Do you really think I'd waste my time teaching you things you don't need to know? Nobody cares whether the school loner is acting differently or not. If their dream boyfriend or buddy or whatever that goes by the name of Nagihiko Fujisaki acts weird, that's a different story, but Ikuto is just there for others to look down upon so they can feel better about themselves. Why do you think I haven't dragged you to a secluded area to have this conversation?"

"Um…"

"You know, for someone so popular, you really are clueless about the way things work in this school. Let's assume you're both in your own bodies. If Ikuto screams 'I'm on fire' in the middle of class, it'll be the talk of a school for a few hours. If you scream 'I'm on fire' in the middle of class, it'll be the talk of the school for a few _years_. If Ikuto secretly vandalizes the boys' bathroom in the middle of class and covers his tracks well, nobody will know who did it. If you secretly vandalize the boys' bathroom in the middle of class, you _can't_ cover your tracks well, because it's more than likely –"

He completed her sentence for her. "A fangirl would have been skipping class to spy on me, and would therefore have seen me carry the tools needed for the vandalism into the bathroom. Forget about years, they'd talk about it for _centuries_."

"Exactly."

"So if you knew it was pointless to teach me stuff about Tsukiyomi-san, why did you do it?"

Though it didn't seem possible, he could have sworn her face turned a light shade of pink. "To find out what your real personality was like."

He couldn't help it. He started to laugh.

"Shut up!"

* * *

She had been glaring at him for the entire class period they were both in, so it didn't surprise him as much as it should have when the first thing Amu did at lunch was to grab his hand and run off in what seemed to be an utterly random direction, ignoring the curious stares they got and the fact that some fans had begun to secretly tail them.

After a while, they were outside the school grounds, on a sidewalk – somewhere no fan would be able to hide, even if they dared to exit the school area with them. Amu seemed to want to speak, but instead turned away, trying to force out the words. "I presume this is about yesterday?" Ikuto asked casually.

She whirled around to face him. "You'd better not tell."

He nodded lazily. "Uh-huh."

There was a panicked feeling rising in her chest, and it took every bit of her self-control not to topple over. "I'm serious. If you do, I'll make sure every single one of my fans gang up on you and tear you to pieces. And you'll be bullied worse…" Amu hesitated. "Worse than I was."

Ikuto laughed. "It's not like you ever gave your fans the time of day. Admit it, Hinamori, you're scared of what I'll do. You can do whatever you like, but affecting me isn't within your power." He paused, then added, "And besides, I have protection. Fujisaki is more popular than you, and I'm currently residing in his body, in case you forgot."

Amu's mind raced. What was she supposed to do now? Apparently threats didn't work on him… was she supposed to bribe him? But she didn't have anything to bribe him with.

Ikuto's voice cut into her thoughts. "Amu."

She looked up at him questioningly. _First "Hinamori", then "Amu"? What's with this guy?_

"I was kidding. I won't tell. It's not like I have anything to gain from it."

Suddenly, Amu felt weak with relief. She let out an audible sigh and slumped onto the sidewalk, not even caring that he was still watching her. After a while, she looked up. He was staring at her, an eyebrow raised.

She felt her body tense, and automatically glared at him, her mouth shooting off the words she always did when feeling awkward: "What do you want?"

His expression didn't change. "You're interesting."

Narrowed golden eyes watched him suspiciously. "How?"

Suddenly, the Ikuto from the day before came back, grinning. "Do you really want me to list the ways? I could start with the fact that your chest is flat, or that your nose is too big, or that you're way too bipolar for your own good –"

"You should talk!"

"My nose is big? Are you insulting Fujisaki or me?"

"No, you're bipolar! One moment you're telling me that affecting you isn't in my power or something, and implying heavily that you're going to tell everyone about… that, and the next moment you're telling me that my chest is flat! What –"

"Okay, okay. I'm going back now. I don't want to get in trouble, even if my new fans probably _will _cover for me."

"Oh." Bemusement clouded her face. _He's a lot more bipolar than I am. Although…_ The words slipped out, without her having to think about them. "Thanks for not telling, by the way."

"I told you, I'm not going to gain anything by telling people. Let's go."

Amu couldn't help but smile.

**Are there any mediocre stories anywhere that I haven't read? I'm not even asking for good stories, but are there some miraculously OKAY stories out there? Because I, personally, have given up hope. It's not just this fandom. I've looked all over the Shugo Chara, Harry Potter, Naruto, Hunger Games, Gakuen Alice, Hana Yori Dango, Hetalia, Cardcaptor Sakura, Yotsuba, Happy Happy Clover, and even Club Penguin (yes, I am not joking here, CLUB PENGUIN) archives, and STILL haven't found anything. And don't forget FictionPress. Nothing good to read there, either, and I've looked in every single category. What is wrong with this place? Are all the good authors just dying off? PLEASE SOMEONE GIVE ME A STORY TO READ AND HURRY.**

**And no, I don't want anything with more than fifteen grammar mistakes per chapter, and NOTHING where Nagihiko/Ikuto acts flirty. To be more specific, I don't want anything in which Rima/Amu acts like a total spaz and tsundere that frequently gets embarrassed in front of a flirty Nagi/Ikuto just so the author can add "fluff". Moments in which Rima/Amu wants to die of shame and Nagi/Ikuto taunts her so much about it she nearly (or does) starts crying are NOT fluff. (Or the other way around, where Rima/Amu taunts Nagi/Ikuto because she "likes" him so much that in the real world, he would get seriously upset. Don't try to say that it already happened in the chapter before last in this story, so I have no right to say that, because Nagi _did _get seriously upset, and besides, Rima wasn't trying to tease him, she was actually trying to get him mad.) There's a line between friendly possibly-romantic teasing and bullying, and the line is crossed _so _many times in fanfiction. _They are different_, believe it or not.**

**Rant over.**

**About the actual story, I've realized that Amuto is making a LOT more progress than Rimahiko. Even I think so. Amuto is on safe, dry land, and is right where I want it to be (or almost right where I want it to be). Rimahiko, however, is still… in a weird spot, and I actually don't know what's going to become of it. Maybe it's because I've saved almost all my Rimahiko moments for my other story, Vanished, which you should read. (This is shameless self-advertising, if you haven't figured that out yet. Sorry, but I can never resist.)**

**And yes, it was short. This chapter was meant purely to get the "uncertain" relationships to a safe spot, which I think I did for Amuto but not Rimahiko. Oh, well.**

**Bye, and please review!**

* * *

_Preview:_

_"Who exactly have you told? I just need to know how many people will be there."_

_"Oh, Tsukiyomi-san and I will be there, so that's two. Then, Mashiro-san and Amu will be there, so that's four. Utau Hoshina will be there. That's five. Tsukiyomi-san told my mom, so that's six. I'll have to ask him if he told anyone else."_

_To his surprise, Kukai laughed. "I called him already. That's how I got your new – or his, whatever – phone number. He told your best friend's sister. Hinamori Ami or something?"_

_Nagihiko sighed. "Great. Another one."_


	13. Genius

It was morning, and Rima was bored.

She wished she could spend the time before class criticizing Nagihiko and Amu, as usual, but now she couldn't – mainly because Ikuto, the person she complained to, had been replaced with the former and the latter was his best friend.

So she had decided to just go to her locker instead. But what would she do after that? Sleep, like Ikuto?

Ikuto must be having a hard time, not doing whatever he pleased. She knew firsthand how annoying it was to have to keep up a good reputation amongst idiots.

She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice Amu Hinamori coming down the hall, also thinking too hard about something to notice. Two seconds later, they had smashed into each other painfully, and Rima – being the shorter one – had gone down.

"Why don't you watch where you're –" Amu began, before seeing who was currently on the floor. Her eyes widened, and her mind began racing. _She knows that my façade is totally fake, and I haven't really been on her good side lately, and she's Ikuto's best friend, which can't be good either… maybe I should try to be nicer?_

Biting her lip, she forced out, "Sorry, are you okay?" It was weird, saying that to someone so much lower in the popularity food chain, but it might be worth it. "Here." Rima looked up to see her holding out her hand. "Let me help you –"

And then Amu went silent as they both stared at each other in realization, almost comically.

They were in the same exact position as Nagihiko and Ikuto had been the moment they switched, in the same exact place. And since Nagihiko and Ikuto had been late to class, it probably wasn't the same time of day… but it was close. Definitely close.

They had switched when they'd touched, hadn't they?

Amu snatched her hand back. Rima stood up, dusted herself off, and wordlessly continued on her way.

One thought rang in both of their minds: _Was that a coincidence or not?_

* * *

At lunch, Amu sat down at their usual table and immediately said, without preamble, "Something weird happened this morning."

Ikuto stared at her. Feeling oddly embarrassed, she snapped, "What?"

"You… talked."

"So?"

"You never talk, unless it's to yell at me."

"And how do you know I'm not going to yell at you? And can you speak quietly? Fans are listening."

He chuckled. "No, they aren't." Before Amu could protest, he added, "And besides, I have a girlfriend already. Only they don't know that."

She could _hear _the fans scurrying off to tell the entire world. "What was that?" she demanded. "You basically ruined Nagi's reputation –"

"Come on, if we switch back, it'll just be easier for him. The less determined ones will be weeded out. Then again, the more persistent fans will just come on harder, but that's got to be better than the entire school fighting over him like drunk dogs over a bone."

"First of all, every fan is equally determined, which means _all_ of them will try harder to get him. Second of all… they do _not_ fight over him like drunk dogs over a bone. It's not like they're harassing him or anything. In fact, they're pretty shy. Keeping their distance."

"Amu –"

"I never gave you permission to call me Amu."

"Okay, sure. Maybe they're keeping their distance, but they're still harassing him with love letters. I bet you've never seen his take his books out of his locker, have you?"

"Um… no."

He sighed loudly. "Idiot."

"Don't call me that."

"Amu."

"Okay, what's wrong with you?"

Ikuto was spared from having to answer from his phone (or Nagihiko's phone) beginning to ring. He put it to his ear. "Hello?"

_"Hey… you're Tsukiyomi, right?"_

He raised an eyebrow, though the other person couldn't see him. "Who is this?"

_"Kukai Souma. Remember me?"_

He blinked. "You? You mean, the one I switched with when –"

_"When you were five, yeah. Fujisaki told me everything about a week ago. We met once before, so he knew me, and well, you know the rest."_

Amu watched curiously, wanting to interrupt but forcing herself not to. Ikuto spoke again, the shock evident in his voice. "So… nice to hear from you after twelve years. What do you want?"

_"Well, can you come to my friend's house?"_ He said the address. _"And bring everyone who knows about the switching. It's really important."_

"Oh, really? Important how? And don't say you're going to tell me when I'm there."

_"Sorry, can't. He insisted. The only thing I can tell you is that you need to come, it's about the switching, and word of it can't leave the house. By the way, who did you tell?"_

Ikuto sighed. "Ami Hinamori, Fujisaki's best friend's little sister. That's the only one who Fujisaki doesn't know about. He can tell you the rest."

_"Yeah. I don't know his phone number, though. Can you tell me?"_

Ikuto repeated it, adding, "But don't call him right now. He's having a very riveting conversation with my friend." He was lying through his teeth, of course. They were doing no such thing – Nagihiko was being totally ignored.

_"Interesting."_

"Yup." He cast a grin at Amu, who was shifting from side to side. "Considering the fact that Fujisaki's best friend, who's right beside me now, is about to explode with curiosity, I think I should hang up now." He snapped the phone shut.

"What was that about?"

"What if I didn't tell you?"

"You have to tell me. I know about the switching. Who was that and what did he say? I could barely hear anything."

So Ikuto told her, holding back laughter as he saw her eyes grow bigger and bigger. When he was done, she instantly went into spaz-mode, prattling on and on and on, "What is it? Why didn't you grill him some more? What do you think it is? Who is the friend he was talking about anyway? Couldn't you have asked him? Couldn't you have asked if you_know_ him? _Do_ you know him? Or do you have no idea who he even is? How could you not know who it is? And did he give you any more clues about what we're doing there? Did he give a hint from the way he worded things? But then why does he want everyone who knows about it to come? And you told my sister? Why did you tell her? Maybe because she told you about –" And suddenly, as she remembered what her sister had told him, she went silent.

_Bipolar little girl_, he thought, feeling a bit annoyed for some reason."Hey, Amu."

"What?" she muttered sullenly, deliberately looking down.

"Are you trying to see if you have any breasts? Because no matter how hard you look, you won't see anything."

It worked.

She started yelling at him.

* * *

Nagihiko was at home, contemplating the mysteries of life. Well, not exactly. _One_ mystery of life.

Rima had ignored him. Again. Now that she had uncovered his "façade", did she consider her job done? Was it now pointless for her to talk to him?

He needed to call Amu, let out some stress. But just as he reached for Ikuto's phone, it rang. He immediately recognized the number. Kukai.

"Hey. What is it?"

_"Um, hi."_ His voice was strangely sheepish. _"If you're not too busy, could you and Tsukiyomi come over to my friend's house?" _He told Nagihiko the address. _"And also anyone that knows you switched with him? I'm there right now."_

"Um, okay. Why?"

_"I'll tell you when you're there. See you_." Nagihiko was about to hang up when he said abruptly, _"Wait, don't hang up yet."_

"What is it?"

_"Who exactly have you told? I just need to know how many people will be there."_

"Oh, Tsukiyomi-san and I will be there, so that's two. Then, Mashiro-san and Amu will be there, so that's four. Utau Hoshina will be there. That's five. Tsukiyomi-san told my mom, so that's six. I'll have to ask him if he told anyone else."

To his surprise, Kukai laughed. _"I called him already. That's how I got your new – or his, whatever – phone number. He told your best friend's sister. Hinamori Ami or something?"_

Nagihiko sighed. "Great. Another one."

_"What?"_

"Nothing."

_"Okay, then. Anyway, your mom shouldn't come. Can you tell Tsukiyomi that? She probably won't approve, that's why."_

"Of what?"

_"You'll see."_ He hung up, giving Nagihiko a bad feeling.

He decided to go anyway. It wasn't as if his new family would miss him. Especially not his temporary stepfather.

* * *

After everything had been taken care of, Ami, Amu, Ikuto, Kukai, Nagihiko, Rima, Utau (with a blue wig and a fake name at Ikuto's insistence that it would be too annoying to explain why a pop star was there), and Yaya (a girl who was apparently Kukai's twelve-year-old cousin) were in the living room of the house they'd been called to. But Kukai's mysterious friend was nowhere in sight.

Bored, Ami and Yaya had started chatting, and found out that besides being the same age, they were almost completely alike in pretty much every other aspect. (Meanwhile, Yaya had also convinced Ami that Ikuto had not lied, and he really had switched bodies with Nagihiko, using faultless Yaya logic. The basis of the logic was "if Kukai says it's true it's true".) Now they were creating a list, titled "How to Annoy Your Siblings and/or Cousins". Amu and Nagihiko were talking happily after a week of separation, while Rima and Ikuto were doing the same.

And if looks could kill, then Utau was murdering Kukai.

"I," she snarled, "am not going to waste my time here listening to others talk. Where the hell is your friend, and why the hell have you told me to come here anyway?"

"Just wait a few minutes," Kukai replied, looking scared for his life. "He'll be out soon."

"You said those exact words half an hour ago!"

Kukai winced at the look on her face. "Calm down, Utau – I mean, um, wait, what was it again, Miyako!"

_Utau. _Not Hoshina, which was what he usually called her. But she was only put out for a second by the fact that the guy that she maybe sort of liked a little had just referred to her by her first name. "So wrong. It was Mizu. Go get that friend of yours. Now."

He sighed. "Okay, but if he murders me for interrupting him, it's your fault." And Kukai left.

A few minutes later, he came back with a disgruntled, green-haired boy in tow. "Hey, everyone! This is Kairi Sanjo!"

They turned to look at him. Yaya's eyes widened, and she dropped the pen that she was using to write the "How to Annoy Your Siblings and/or Cousins" list.

There was a beat of silence. Then, "Kukaaaaaaaai, why didn't you tell me? If you'd told I wouldn't have come!"

"Huh? Yaya, what are you saying?"

"This guy is a total jerk!"

The green-haired boy, Kairi, exhaled loudly, looking even more frustrated than he originally had. "She knows, too? Souma-san, I am on the brink of dismissing you from this household."

"What? Wait, you guys _know_ each other? You don't even go to the same school –"

"I hate him!"

"She is infantile."

"Stop showing off!"

"Maladroit," he replied, raising his eyebrows.

"Shut up!"

"Rebarbative."

"What does that even _mean_? Kukaaaaaaaai!"

Kukai winced. "I'm not sure. I think they're bad things."

"I know they're bad things!"

"Hey. You're Yuiki, right?" Rima cut in, looking annoyed.

Yaya tilted her head to the side curiously, somehow managing to look even younger. "Uh-huh?"

"Infantile means childish. And… I've heard rebarbative, but… I…" Her eyes narrowed. _And is maladroit even a word?_ "How old is that kid?" she asked Kukai. "Considering the vocabulary, he looks young."_Younger than "Mizu", aka Utau Hoshina the pop star, _she thought – Ikuto had told her about his sister a long time ago, of course.

Kukai grinned, looking proud for reasons even he couldn't understand. "Eleven, almost twelve. But he skipped four grades. He's in high school."

The whole room stared at him in shock.

Except Yaya.

"That's not a big deal!" she protested stubbornly. "I could if I tried!"

Amu, Ami, Ikuto, Utau, Nagihiko, and Rima were staring at the supposed eleven-year-old with a newfound respect. "Are you kidding?" Ami murmured reverently. "That's, like, impossible. He's gotta be a genius."

"Oh, yeah." Kukai suddenly said, causing everyone to turn and look at him. "Why do you hate him so much, Yaya?"

"You should know. Remember that Japanese class I take for nine to twelve-year-olds? Because people say I'm 'behind' in the language or something, when I'm not? He takes it so he can show off to people his age. And I'm always his target, because I'm normal." She let out a small "hmph" and stuck her tongue out at Kairi.

"The liability does not rest upon me. I have never targeted you in any way, and with all due respect, you are not 'normal'."

"You're targeting me right now!"

"It is your own fault –"

Ami shrank back, whispering to Nagihiko, "I have no idea what's going on."

Amu cast a glance at her. "Neither do I. But it can't be helped."

"Hey, Sanjo or whoever you are," Utau snapped. "Don't you have something to show us? Or did you just make us come here to watch you fight with my punching bag's cousin?"

"Punching bag?" Kukai protested. "Hey, I beat you in ramen-eating –"

"About fifteen percent of the time, and you're three years older than me. Shut up. Sanjo, why did you make us come here?"

He shrugged. "At first, I desired to invite only Tsukiyomi-san and Fujisaki-san. But Souma-san convinced me that it would be unfair if the others did not know."

"See, he's using simple language now! When he's talking to other people! But with me he uses big long words –" Yaya protested.

Kairi spoke over her. "I may have discovered an explanation for the switching."

* * *

**Kind of obvious, but whatever. It was the best I could do. Or… was it? Anyway, I AM SORRY THERE WAS NO RIMAHIKO. I promise that SOMETHING Rimahiko-ish will happen soon. (I'm not sure what exactly will happen, or when. Sorry.)**

**Yaya is introduced in this chapter, and there's Yairi… but it's epic hate Yairi, definitely. Sorry, but I can't imagine Kairi or Yaya liking each other at this point, so might as well make it interesting in another way…**

**By the way, my vocabulary is way smaller than Yaya's. I found all those words on the internet. But I am NOT behind in English. (Maybe.)**

**And yes, I mentioned this, but there is no Rimahiko. Ugh. SORRY. SORRY. SORRY. The story is totally suffering from a lack of good Rimahiko scenes, and I wish I could give a good excuse for it, but seeing as the excuse I'm telling myself is something along the lines of "I can't think of any good scenes", I probably can't give any excuse that wouldn't be a waste of space.**

**Bye, and please review!**

* * *

_Preview:_

_Kairi nodded. "To sum it up, either something nearly impossible happened to you thrice, or it's something else. It could be a mutation in your DNA that attracts the 'switching' sunlight to your body just a little more, but it would be hard to tell what exactly happened and what exactly it affected, other than the fact that you seem to randomly change bodies with people. To top it off, that being the reason you switched three times would be even more unlikely than you just coincidentally switching, and three times in a row at that… which would approximately cube the chances of it _not_ happening …"_

_"Wait," Nagihiko interjected. "I'm sorry for interrupting, but if all this is so improbable, how are we going to switch back?"_

_The boy genius raised his eyebrows at him. "Maybe if you accidentally strayed to the right place at the right time again. But the chances of that, like I said, are so small it could technically be considered impossible."_


End file.
